Because We Have Each Other
by TheLovelyJudy
Summary: Horrible things happen to great people, sometimes for no reason. It doesn't matter if you're bold, sassy, and strong like Belinda or shy, sweet, and mild-mannered like Lucille; rape is a disgusting and horrific crime. This is a story about the unbelievable strength of friendship in it's purest form and how it can heal even the deepest wounds. ON HIATUS, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!
1. The Lioness & The Lamb

**Because We Have Each Other**

Summary: Belinda is a bold, sassy, and pretty bad ass. Lucille is timid, painfully shy, and unsure of herself. They are polar opposites; but when both find themselves the victims of Alex and his droogs, the two girls lean on each other and try to survive the ups and downs of their healing process.

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**Belinda Santiago**

Age: 18

Nationality: (English) Mother (Spanish) Father

Personality: Belinda is a "tough ass bitch" with a vicious tongue and sass, but she's extremely protective of her family and friends and she has a heart of gold. She's very beautiful and prides herself on being a heart breaker, Belinda grew up in a tough neighborhood where crime and violence thrived, she even carries around a knife and "razor blades all up in her hair" (whether or not this true is unknown) Her favorite color is "glittery black" and she tends to roll her eyes before saying a sarcastic comment or insult.

_-Sarah Hyland-_

**Lucille Coleman**

Age: 16

Nationality: (French) Mother, (English) Father

Personality: Lucille is timid, "mouse like", and painfully shy. But she is also passionate, hard-working, and very warm and affectionate; she's a bookworm who dresses fashionably but modestly as well. She grew up in a suburban neighborhood where everyone knew each other; she is a passionate painter and spends her afternoons curled up with a good book.

_-Anna-Sophia Robb-_

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_**Belinda**_

"Hey, get back here young lady!" Mr. Carter shouted as he stalked after his teenage student. Belinda Santiago walked with her hand on her hip, popping her bubblegum and glaring at straying students with her usual "Don't mess with me" attitude. She rolled her eyes at the sound of her math teacher's voice, "Yes?" she asked impatiently, "I told you, you can't use the bathroom!" Belinda pushed her sunglasses up to rest of her head, and cocked her eyebrow at him. "I'm on my period. So unless you want bloodstains on one of your chairs, I would suggest leaving me be."

Mr. Carter turned red with embarrassment; he'd never known a young girl to be so blunt. She wasn't embarrassed at all, and he was so flustered that he could only walk away as fast as he could. Once he was gone, Belinda smirked and laughed. She walked into the bathroom and cranked the window open, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it, she took a delicious drag. She took out her gum and stuck it carelessly on the wall, and then the door was opening.

Michelle, Bernice, and Theresa; also known as _"Hell's Angels"_ walked in with their hands on their hips and smug grins on their faces. Bernice looked her up and down, then she looked at her friends with a "check this out" expression. "So, I've been meaning to ask you. What the hell are you doing in this school? Shouldn't you be cleaning a toilet at someone's house? Isn't that what you…beaners do, or you could skip all that and pop out some border-hopping babies. You can name them Jesus and Juanita"

Belinda said nothing during Bernice's obnoxious and incredibly racist monologue, and when she was finished, Belinda took another slow drag and put it out on the wall that she was leaning on.

"Listen closely, you pug-faced skank, I'm from a part of London called Vine Street, you know where that is? It's on the wrong side of the tracks; you seriously think your piss poor comments can hurt me or scare me? I've heard it all before, you're boring me so turn your flat-skinny little ass out of here or take a dump; whatever you came in here for, and…oh, don't wear red lipstick; with your pasty complexion? No." Belinda started walking away, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Bernice lunging at her turned back. She dodged her and struck out an arm, pushing the other girl so hard that she stumbled and fell flat on her butt.

"Look, I know I'm a bitch but all that I just said, was me being angelic. You want to know the real truth about you skanks? Bernice, you have the chest of a ten year old boy; your ass is flatter than a vertical wall, you have a freakishly large mouth—seriously, you could unhinge your jaw and swallow someone whole like a Python.

Michelle, you're pretty…average, gorgeous? Bitch, please I could wipe away one-hundred percent of your gorgeous looks with a wet napkin. And finally, Theresa—you act all tough but we all know you're just a spoiled little rich girl who would piss herself in fear if she so much as put a toe over the borderline and into the wrong side of the tracks. Bottom line is this, where I come from; we eat scum sucking road whores like you for lunch. Now, get out of my; please; before I decide to go all Vine Street on your skinny skank asses. Fuck with me again I'll cut one of your fake boobs, Michelle I'm looking at you, right or left, that's your choice or you can all keep your mouths shut."

The girls looked angry and scared, and could think of nothing to say. So Belinda blew them a kiss and walked out, "…she's so…" Theresa started and trailed off, "ugly? Disgusting? Take your pick" Michelle growled, "…bad ass" Theresa finished in awe, "Shut up Theresa!" Michelle and Bernice screamed angrily. Meanwhile, Belinda decided to skip the rest of math class and go the Korova Milk Bar. She wasn't a regular costumer, but there were often weird people there and she liked to make scathing reviews on their fashions while she sipped at her 'moloko'

Racist comments had plagued her life since she was a little girl, of course it had hurt her and to an extent it still did but she wasn't a child anymore; she was eighteen and she prided herself on being one of the toughest bitches at her school. She put others to shame and could find flaws in even the most "beautiful" girls, girls who tried to put her down and ended up embarrassed and sometimes a little bruised and bloody. She was comfortable with herself, and her favorite thing (besides her bad-assery) was her voice; it was sultry and sexy. Her voice got her out of a lot of trouble, and no—she wasn't just being overly vain. She kept it real.

On her way out, she bumped into someone a foot shorter than her (she was wearing heels though) this was a girl she'd never seen before. She was wearing a knit-sweater, knee-length flow-y skirt, white leggings and black Mary Janes. She had a copy of "England: A Royal History by Bartholomew Nabavanda" tucked in her folded arms, she was very pretty; a natural pretty. "Oh, I'm sorry." She said, looking genuinely worried that she might have hurt Belinda. Belinda smiled kindly, "Ah, you're perfectly fine; I won't die. No te preocupes por eso, en serio, miel…"

"I'm …I'm taking spanish, I'm not very good at it…but um…I-I think it's a beautiful language" the girl stammered, staring at her feet. "Thanks. I'm Belinda…Belinda Santiago" the girl looked up but was so shy that she could not hold the other girl's gaze, "I'm Lucille C-Coleman. I…I Heard what those girls were saying to you. I'm sorry, you don't deserve to be treated like that…I um…I wanted to burst in and defend you but I wouldn't know what to say…I'm not very good at being the hero"

"That's alright. I can take care of myself, it's nice knowing someone cares though. Well, I'll be going now. It was nice to meet you. But before I leave, look at me, now listen to Auntie Bella tell you a story; it's a story about you honey. You're what we call a Wall flower, stop being a Wall flower; you have some deep hidden talent right? I can tell, it's something amazing and it's something big but you're so afraid of being rejected or told you're not good enough that you keep pushing it aside, keep doing that and you'll regret it. You'll wind up married to the first man you date because you're too insecure to explore and think that only he could ever love you, and put aside all of your dreams. Don't."

With that, Belinda was gone. Lucille's cheeks were flushed, and she smiled to herself. Belinda had a reputation for being vicious and sassy, but from what Lucy had seen during her time here at this school; Belinda, in her own words was just, "keeping it real" she was unapologectic, bold, sexy, and dominant. But she was also fiercely protective, hard-working, passionate, and had an amazing capability to tell you what you needed to hear, not what you wanted to hear.

Lucy wished she could be more like her.

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**One Month Later**

"Now, who else would like to share?...Belinda?" Dr. Amelia Fredrick asked, her bright green eyes landing on the angry-looking young woman. She was chewing on the inside of her cheek, glaring at the ground and hugging herself; fingernails digging into her upper arms as she trembled in rage. "Pass" she grunted, "Belinda, honey, you haven't said a word for the last three weeks" Belinda snapped her gaze to the doctors and growled, "I said I was fucking raped, okay? What the hell else do you want to know? Do you want me to tell you that I fought and _lost_? Do you want me to tell you that I_ screamed_ and tried so fucking hard to not cry even though it hurt and I was so fucking scared? I'm done here"

Belinda stood up and went to storm out when someone walked in. She stopped and her breath caught in her throat, she remembered her. She looked so sad and lost, she was hugging herself and she looked as if she was the verge of crying at any second. They locked eyes, "Hi Belinda" she said in a soft voice. "It happened to you to?" Belinda asked quietly, Lucille grabbed her hand and lead her back to the group circle. They sat next to each other.

"I'm glad you came back Belinda…Lucille, you're new here and I understand if you aren't ready to talk about your attack yet" Dr. Fredrick said, but Lucille shook her head. "No…I…I need to talk about it, please…he um…he was mean…and h-he didn't care that he was hurting me…he was so violent, it hurt so badly, it felt like he was ripping me apart…I could barely breath, and then the others started…I wanted to die, I just…I wanted to die. The leader…I can't remember what he looked like…he was was w-wearing this mask but I remember that…he…he smelled like peppermint"

Belinda's attention was immediately grabbed at the word peppermint. "…was he wearing white clothes?" she asked in a hoarse voice, "…yes, they…they all were" "…and on his cuffs…bloody eyeballs?" the room was thick now, and one could hear a pin drop. "yes…" Belinda tried to blink away tears, but they fell anyway. Lucille's eyes filled with tears and she swallowed thickly. There were no words to say, it was plain as day. Both of them had been raped by the same monster of a man.

Lucille stood up and grabbed Belinda's hand, rushing her out in the parking lot. They walked in silence to the car, Belinda got behind the wheel. They sat in complete silence, and it was Lucille who broke it. "…I feel so broken" Belinda looked at her, "I know…I…it was horrible…it hurt so much and all you could think was, god please let it be over soon. I understand…I know how much it hurts and h-how scared you were…how trapped you felt…powerless…and so broken…like all the color had been sucked out the world."

There was a brief pause

"I'm…I'm not supposed to be rape victim! That's not me, it's not! I'm the toughest bitch at our school, I'm the bread winner for my familia, I'm not supposed to be broken, I'm fucking not!"

Belinda was pounding on the steering wheel, screaming and sobbing violently. Lucille pulled her into an embrace, "It's okay to fall apart Belinda, I'm right here. You're okay…we're um…we're going to be okay, We are going to survive this. You're strong Belinda, you're the strongest person I've ever met. And we. Are. . survive. This. Okay?"

"…How do you know?"

"Because...we have each other"

**Please Review**

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::This idea just popped into my mind and wouldn't leave me alone::

Don't worry Alex is a main character, I just wanted to introduce Belinda & Lucille first. You all know I prefer my Alex to be in character, this means psychopathic, vicious, bold, charming, and sadistic. The way God (or the Devil, I'm not a hundred percent sure) intended him to be.


	2. She Fought and Lost

**Because We Have Each Other**

DemonBarber14: Thank you! You're so sweet :D *Hugs*

bibliophilechild: Thank you! And yes, I am a hardcore Glee fan ^_^ it took me a while, I didn't really like it for a while but it grew on me. Santana is one of my top favorite characters and served as the inspiration for Belinda :D

TheWeasleyBoys: Thank You!

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**Belinda's Story {Part One}**

**Myth:**** Women entice men to rape.**

**Fact:** Research has found that the vast majority of rapes are planned. Rape is the responsibility of the rapist alone. Women, children and men of every age, physical type and demeanor are raped. Opportunity is the most important factor determining when a given rapist will rape.

She smirked at herself in her bedroom mirror, she looked gorgeous. She wore a light brown shimmery eye shadow, black eyeliner and mascara that gave her eyes a dramatic look. Her plump lips painted red, her hair up in a messy but sexy half-up and half-down hairdo. She wore a mini black dress with spaghetti straps and a low-cut heart shaped collar, red pumps adorned her feet.

Belinda turned as her bedroom door opened; her grandmother Marcella walked in with her cane. She was looking a bit wobbly, so Belinda hurried to help her sit down. "¿Me tiene que hacer algo antes de que me vaya, abuela? Se acordó de tomar su medicamento correcto?" (Do you need me to do anything before I leave, grandma? You remembered to take your medicine right?) She asked anxiously, Marcella smiled and cupped her granddaughter's cheek.

"Cuida muy bien de mí, niña. Estoy perfectamente bien, y sí me acordaba de tomar esa medicina horrible. Salir y tener un tiempo maravilloso, pero no te atrevas a conseguirse embarazada o te golpearé con una silla." (You take such good care of me, baby girl. I am perfectly fine, and yes I did remember to take that awful medicine. Go out and have a wonderful time but don't you dare get yourself pregnant or I will beat you with a chair.)

For a moment both of them pretended to be extremely serious before cracking into huge smiles. Belinda said jokingly, "Oh caramba! Yo estaba pensando en conseguir esta noche embarazada, que haya echado a perder mis planes en los que la bruja malvada." (Oh darn it! I was planning on getting pregnant tonight, you have spoiled my plans you wicked witch.) They hugged tightly, and kissed goodbye.

Belinda Santiago had been living with her sick grandmother from the age of fourteen. Up until then she'd lived on Vine Street with an absentee father and an alcoholic mother. From the time she was a toddler, Belinda's mother had been a subject of sadness in her life. She was almost always passed out or too drunk to pay attention to her child, Belinda had no memory of being held or played with by her mother. She only remembered being alone for days at a time, while her mother was on one of her partying and drinking binges.

Rachelle Mortez had gotten pregnant with Belinda at the age of sixteen, and had turned to alcohol to cope with the stress of having to raise a child. That coupled with her displaced anger, lead to her verbally abusing and occasionally physically abusing her child. But the major abuse inflicted was neglect, Belinda often went hungry for hours or days before her mother would bother to find something for her to eat, and as an infant the child had suffered from diaper rash more than once.

Most mothers teach their children safety procedures, such as 'Don't ever touch a stove top' but Belinda's mother hadn't. At the age of two, the little girl—curious about the bright red circle on top the stove—put her hand right on the center. Although her hand was so badly burned, she had blisters her mother didn't bother to take her to the clinic until six hours later. Wrapping it up in a dishtowel and telling her to quit her crying, to toughen up.

Marcella had lived in Spain, and Belinda only saw her during the summer. Grandmother would send for her, she wasn't rich but she had enough to pay for her little granddaughter to come visit during the warmer seasons. Belinda loved visiting her grandma and Grandfather Alejandro in the beautiful Spanish countryside. They lived on a farm; it was a very pretty place.

At her grand-parents' farm in Spain, she didn't have to be afraid of strange men coming and going. She didn't have to smell alcohol, there was no burnt food or constantly trashed house, she didn't have to put her mother to bed and take care of her when she was sick from drinking too much. She could just run outside with the sheep dogs or pet the lambs or chase the geese.

When she was eleven, her grandpa died of a heart attack.

Belinda didn't tell Marcella about her mother's drinking problem or the neglect at home; later in her life she couldn't be sure why she didn't tell her. Maybe she'd been trying to protect her mother; Belinda had loved her mother deeply at one point. She had, after all, been her mother. But at the age of thirteen, something happened that too awful to deny or try and hide.

One of the men her mother brought home attempted to rape Belinda, he'd only gotten as far as ripping her shirt down the middle before she kicked him hard between the legs and ran away. And her mother had been in the room the entire time, completely aware of what was happening. And as Belinda sobbed quietly at the top of the stairs, hidden in the shadows she overheard a conversation that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"_I'm not paying you shit, that fucking cunt smashed my balls!"_

"_I need that money, come on Jack. I can fuck you myself"_

"_I don't you, I wanted her and you said I could have her"_

She ran outside in the rain, running as fast as she could as tears ran down her face. She barricaded herself in a phone booth and used her lunch money to call her grandmother, she could barely tell her what had happened but her own anger and hurt drove her forward. Marcella spoke gently but urgently to her grand-daughter over the phone. "Oh, Dios mío, cariño, lo siento mucho! Escúchame cariño, escucha. Quiero que vaya a la estación de policía y decirles lo que pasó, voy a estar allí en el próximo vuelo. No te vayas a casa, me lo prometes?" (Oh my god, baby, I'm so sorry! Listen to me darling, listen. I want you to go to the police station and tell them what happened, I'll be there on the next flight out. Don't go back home, promise me?)

Belinda obeyed and went to the police station, they were very nice to her. They gave her hot chocolate and wrapped her up in a wool blanket, two of them headed out to arrest her mother and Jack Freeman on charges of child endangerment, attempted rape, and child prostitution. She was placed in a temporary foster home for two days before her grandmother arrived.

Marcella bought a house near the Flat-block Marina in London and they'd been living there ever since. Belinda's past was painful, yes, but she'd become tough as nails because of it. She was fiercely protective of her grandmother, and vice versa. As she was heading out the door, she turned and said "Abuela, Te amo todo el camino a las estrellas" (Grandma, I love you all the way to the stars) Marcella smiled and returned the sentiment.

She was going to Korova Milkbar, it took her twenty minutes (she took off her shoes to prevent sore feet, and besides the cool and smooth concrete felt nice) before she arrived. She exchanged ten dollars for five drinks, and stuck to the pure milk. Her scathing fashion reviews started in her mind as she observed the other customers. Her eyes fell on a gang of boys around her age, and on the leader himself. He was devilishly handsome, and their eyes locked.

He gave her one of those sexy half-smiles, and she winked at him. She stood up and strutted over to him, hips swaying seductively. "Hi" she greeted in her signature smoky voice, most boys would turn red and become flustered but this one returned her seductive leer with a powerful one of his one. "Hi, Hi, Hi there little sister" he said in a husky but somehow still polite voice.

Within the hour they were tangled on one of the couches, kissing passionately. She saw the time on the clock and de-tangled herself from him. "I have to go now, it was…horrorshow" Alex licked his lips and pulled her back, claiming her mouth in a deliciously dominant kiss. She was straddling him, and she rolled her hips against his. She kissed him back with equal passion, but forced herself to pull away.

This time he let her go.

She was walking for fifteen minutes when she heard footsteps, she ignored it at first but they got louder and closer and…there wasn't just one or two…it was four. And before she knew what was happening she found herself in the middle of a square formed by two pairs of boys around her. She immediately recognized the leader and smirked, even if he hadn't have been there it wouldn't have occurred to her be nervous. She was Belinda Santiago for God's sake, nobody could hurt her.

She was invincible, tough as nails, and she could chew you up and spit you back out.

"I'm glad to see you, handsome. I forgot to ask for your number, I don't want you ditching out on me" Alex chuckled and placed his black cane across his shoulders. "Oh, I could never ditch you my darling. But you see, I want more from you…and so do my droogies here; after all sharing is caring is it not?" as he spoke, his droogs started to close in on her. She immediately went into a defensive mode, "Listen here. I'm not going to lie, I really like you but I'm **not** having sex with you Alex. I may be a bitch and I may be comfortable with my sexuality but that doesn't mean I'm a slut"

Alex sighed and spoke to one of his friends, "Don't you just hate it when these blasted devotchkas think they have a choice in the matter?" the other boy nodded, rolling his eyes. She rolled her eyes at them, "Read my lips, I am not having sex with any of you. If you're really that desperate, I'm sure you can have a horrorshow time…together. Got it? Get it? Good"

She started to walk away when Alex brought his cane down in front of her, using it push her back against his body. "I don't appreciate insinuating such things, little sister" he said in an eerily calm voice, "Oh I'm sorry! Did I hurt your feelings? Grow some balls, you asshole." She tried to shove herself away but his grip only tightened. "What the hell? Let go of me!"

Alex covered her mouth and dragged her, kicking and screaming, into his favorite abandoned theater. The same place he often fought stinking Billy Boy and his gang. He dragged her over to an old ratty mattress on a rusty bedframe and pushed her down on it. She clawed at him and screamed under his hand, she fought him like a hell-cat.

She fought with every fiber of her being, she clawed and screamed and kicked and spat and scratched and refused to cry even though it hurt so badly, she fought so hard and…she **lost.**

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_**Please Review**_


	3. A Beautiful Night Ruined

**Because We Have Each Other**

**Thank You, Thank You, Thank Youx1,000,000 to DemonBarber14 and bibliophilechild!**

::Lucille is a vocalist (and a pianist) I know I have a lot of my characters as aspiring performers and I apologize if this is tiring, but I myself _love _to perform so I guess it just transfers to the character. I hope this isn't too annoying::

_**Song Used: **__Winter Moon__** by Mindy Gledhill**_

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**Lucille's Story {Part One}**

"Good morning, honey" Her mother greeted her, Lucy was sitting at the Steinway in their parlor with blank sheet music in front of her. She was working on a new song, and she'd barely slept the night before much to her mother's irritation. "Allez-y, vous avez été assis à ce piano pendant des heures. Vous avez besoin d'une pause, mon ange." (Go on, you've been sitting at that piano for hours. You need a break, angel.) but Lucille ignored her and began to add even more lyrics and musical notes.

"attendre, maman, écoutez ceci! J'ai écrit la première partie, je pense que vous allez adorer." (wait, mommy, listen to this! I have the first part written, I think you're gonna love it.) her mother replied now in English, they often slipped in and out of their French tongue and often didn't even realize they were doing it. "Of course I'll love it, baby. Let's hear it"

Lucille started playing, and cleared her throat and began the first part of her new song:

_Under trees of emerald green_

_We find a hiding spot_

_Where the other people play_

_We hope we won't get caught_

_Hide and seeking all the day_

_On and on until the night_

_Till we start a snow ball war_

_Beneath the winter moon_

She finished the last note and smiled at her mother, who was beaming at her and clasping her hands together. "It's only a rough-draft mind you, and I still have a long way to go…" when Lucille got excited, as she often did during this music writing sessions, she would slip back into her native tongue. "Oh, attends, je l'ai eu! pouvez-vous me remettre ce crayon? Non, le bleu de maman, que l'on ne dispose pas d'une gomme bien." (oh, wait I got it! can you hand me that pencil? No, the blue on mommy, that one doesn't have a good eraser.)

Lucy began to erase certain lines and words out vigorously, while her mother looked through all the past songs her daughter had written. Songs she hoped other people would hear someday, her daughter was a beautiful musician; she just needed more confidence. _"Lingering Still"_ and _"I Thought I saw your Face Today" _and _"You Really got a Hold on Me"_ were some her favorite songs. Most of Lucille's songs had a sort of whimsical quality, sweet and often bubbly.

"Okay, mommy, here it is now"

_Under boughs of evergreen_

_We find a hiding spot_

_While the other children play_

_We pray we won't get caught_

_Hide and seeking all the day_

_On and on into the night_

'_till we start a snow ball fight_

_Beneath the winter moon_

Christine Coleman applauded enthuastically, "Magnifique petite fille,! Comment êtes-vous si talentueux? Ton papa et je ne pouvais pas chanter pour sauver nos vies, mais ici vous êtes ... notre petit ange de la musique." (Wonderful, baby girl! How are you so talented? Your daddy and I couldn't sing to save our lives but here you are...our little angel of music.)

At that moment, Ronald Coleman walked in in his dark blue robe and worn-out slippers. A mug of black coffee in his hand and a rolled up newspaper in the other, "I don't wish to alarm you dears, but I fear an angel has fallen from heaven. I heard her singing while I was upstairs" he said, kissing Lucy's forehead. He ushered her to the far left side of the piano, and sat next to her. He started playing "Oh, you great big beautiful Doll" for a few minutes before stopping at the sound of a ding from the kitchen.

Lucille and her parents made their way to the dining room and enjoyed a plate of cinnamon rolls, and then halfway through their snack, "Isn't the town having a talent showcase? Why don't you go sing for them baby?" Ronald suggested, but Lucy shook her head no. "I couldn't, dad." Christine frowned and gently rubbed her daughter's back. "You're really good, Lucy. I know the idea of performing in front of strangers is mortifying to think about, but you're so talented honey. Why don't you just give it a try?"

"Mais maman, je ne peux pas. Je vais gâcher, même si je passe ... Je sais que je vais étouffer ou oublier les paroles ou je vais vomir ou de quelque chose, quelque chose va mal maman je le sais." (But mommy, I just can't. I'll mess up, even if I get through...I just know I'll choke or forget the lyrics or I'll throw up or something, something will go wrong mommy I just know it.) Ronald cupped her face, and Lucille bowed her head so he could kiss her forehead tenderly.

"Take a shower and doll yourself up, the auditions are today." And before Lucille could keep protesting, she was ushered upstairs by her mother. She begrudgingly showered and dressed up in a light green button up blouse and dark blue jeans. She brushed her hair and quickly put on some mascara and light pink lip gloss. Her parents were waiting for her downstairs.

"I don't even know what to sing, papa" she groaned, as he helped her put on her jacket. "Why don't you sing _'__**Over the Rainbow'**__? _It is your favorite song after all" he suggested, Lucille exhaled slowly. "Oh yes, yes! Thank you papa"

"They'll love it, now hurry up! We're going to be late."

Lucille bit her lip, a nervous habit, as her family and she arrived at _The Duke of New York_ which was filled to capacity by all sorts of different people. There was a make-shift stage for auditions and a line of people eager and nervous. "Why is there an audience? I can't sing in front of an audience, I'm already freaking out about the judges" Lucille rambled, trying to get away but her parents tugged her along.

"You are going to be amazing"

And so she was. Despite all of her anxiety, the moment she was up there something magical happened. She was overwhelmed with feelings of confidence, pride, and happiness. It was like she was sparkling inside and out. She finished with a curtsy and a smile and rushed off as a boy with a flute comes on to take her place. The city of London held this talent showcase at the Duke of New York every year.

"Baby, we have to go. Are you going to be okay by yourself? You were wonderful, wasn't she gorgeous up there Ronald?" Christine fussed, kissing Lucy's cheeks, forehead, and even the tip of her nose. Lucy wrestled herself away with a laugh, "I'll be fine. Go on, I'll see you guys at home."

She could see an empty seat near a group of boys, the empty seat right next to a very handsome young man whose face held a boyish yet still masculine handsomeness and who's eyes sparkled with mischief. He was dressed up in a long purple coat, he looked somewhat bored but his friends looked interested in the events around them. She smiled politely at them and sat down, looking away and avoiding any eye contact. She wished, as she often did, that she could be as confident as she was on stage.

As more people started to audition, her mind started to drift away. She saw herself on a real stage, dressed in a sparkly outfit and singing in front of a crowd of thousands of people. Her name in bright lights, roses being thrown by her loving fans…then she was standing on a new stage but she wasn't singing. She was holding a Diamond Award, one of the most prestigious awards for a musician ever.

"Excuse me?"

She was snapped out of it by a gentle hand on her shoulder, she turned her head to see the handsome boy smiling at her. "My eemya is Alex, and may I skazat to you how choodensy thou performance was? Never had I slooshied such a lovely goloss. It would be a true crime if you aren't selected to sing for this showcase. Your voice is the sladkvat sound that has ever graced my ookoes, my love."

Lucille thanked him and blushed scarlet when he kissed her hand, at that moment she heard her name being called. He winked at her with a knowing smile as she hurried to hear the verdict.

"Maman, papa! J'ai pris, ils m'ont aimé! tout le monde m'aimait vraiment, et maman y avait ce garçon vraiment mignon qui a dit les choses les plus douces pour moi! C'était tellement incroyable, j'ai adoré chanter devant des gens! et ils m'ont tant aimé!" (Mommy, daddy! I got in, they loved me! everyone really loved me, and mommy there was this really cute boy who said the sweetest things to me! It was so amazing, i loved singing in front of people! and they loved me so much!)

She threw her arms around both of her parents, completely overwhelmed with happiness. Her mother squealed in excitement and hugged her so tightly that Lucille couldn't breathe, "Mom! Can't breathe!" she gasped, mouthing "Help me" to her father dramatically. Ronald laughed and gently pried them apart, "We always knew you'd get in!"

Their happy celebration was cut off by the telephone ringing, Christine went to answer it. "Hello?...oh…sure thing Mr. Davers…yes…thank you, goodbye" she hung up and rubbed her temples in irritation, "Je suis désolé, ma chérie. Ton père et moi devons travailler ce soir changement de retard, mais nous allons vous emmener à la nuit Pasta Parlour demain, mon coeur va bien? Voulez-vous être bien seul? Ton papa a acheté de la crème glacée à la menthe chocolat avant que nous arrivions à la maison." (I'm sorry, honey. Your father and I need to work a late shift tonight, but we are going to take you to the Pasta Parlour tomorrow night, alright sweetheart? Will you be alright alone? Your daddy bought some mint chocolate ice cream before we got home.)

"That's no problem at all, I'll be fine. S'il vous plaît revenir à la maison sains et saufs, d'accord?" (Please come home safe and sound, okay?) she kissed them both goodbye and made sure to lock the door after them. She took a quick shower, got dressed in a lacy pink nightgown, and buried herself in a book about the musicians and actors/actresses of 1920s-1960s Hollywood. She was halfway through the chapter about Bette Davis when she started drifting away into her imagination…

"_Miss Coleman, over here! Do you have anything to say about the Diamond Awards coming up soon?" lights flashing as cameras go off rapidly, the jungle of shouts and reporters with pencils pressed against blank notepads ready to write any syllable that comes from her mouth. She is dressed in a Breakfast at Tiffany's style black dress with a pearl necklace and her hair pinned up elegantly, sunglasses studded with real diamonds and a (faux) fur shawl. "I would just like to say, whether or not I win—thank you to all of the people who supported me, I love you all."_

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!

She snaps out of it, someone is knocking loudly and rapidly on the front door. Cautiously she goes to see who it is, "Hello?" she calls out. "Oh, miss! Please, can I come in and use your telephone? My poor friend be bleedin' in the middle of the street, we was attacked miss, we was!" a frantic voice called out to her, filled with worry and anguish. Lucille debated with herself for a few moments and then…

"Oh…alright, come in"

What she saw was not what she expected. He was dressed completely in white, save for the black boots. A black cane clutched in his hand, he towered over her and the upper half of his face was covered in a mask. "Welly, Welly, Well…aren't thou a beauteous little devotchka? And all on your oddy knocky" He sneered, and his voice did not sound at all like what she'd heard on the other side of the door. Something was pushing at her mind, his voice sounded vaguely familiar…that language…but almost everyone she knew used that language.

"Y-You needed to use the telephone?" she squeaked, she knew now that his intentions were bad but she didn't know how to handle it. She just did not know what to do in a situation like this, where could she run? And she sure as hell couldn't fight him off, maybe she could stall him? "Would um…would you like some tea while you wait for the police c-come? I m-mean I assume you want to call the police what with your f-friend out there" he walked towards her in a predatory manner and she felt her hands start to shake. "There is nobody out there, my love"

Despite the fact that she'd realized this the moment he stepped into her living room, that last line set fire alarms off in her mind and she bolted for the door. She was wrenched back by her hair and thrown violently on the floor of her kitchen. "Please don't, please go away! Don't hurt me!" she pleaded through her heavy tears, she'd put a struggle and had been easily overpowered by his strength.

It was on this night…a night that had started out with happiness and excitement…that Lucille was violently raped, and when he was finished with her; her attacker kissed her forehead and said "Dire un mot à ce sujet, et je vous massacrer et votre famille foutu. Dois-je me rendre limpide?" her eyes were wide and filled immediately with tears, she nodded frantically and he smirked. "Il n'y a rien de plus merveilleux, petite Lucy, que de baiser une beauté innocente comme vous alors que vous êtes des saignements et des cris de miséricorde. J'ai eu un vrai grand temps réel avec vous, merci mon cher." (There is nothing more wonderful, little Lucy, than to fuck an innocent beauty like yourself while you're bleeding and screaming for mercy. I had a real, real great time with you, thank you my dear.)

With that, and a vicious kick to her ribs, he was gone.

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**Please Review**

I thought it would be a nice twist to have Alex be fluent in French :) one the translations is missing for a reason. Just so you know.


	4. Dark Confessions

**Because We Have Each Other**

Thank you so, so much DemonBarber14, TheWeasleyBoys, and bibliophilechild

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**Belinda's Story {Part Two}**

"¿Por qué estás tan tarde?! ¿Tiene alguna idea de lo preocupada que estaba por ti? Belinda Santiago Reyna estás escuchando?! usted está tratando de matarme a mí, su hijo malvado! He estado sentado aquí, esperando por ti! Casi me llamó a la policía, lo que si fueron asesinados o heridos? Nunca pensé en un millón de años que usted sería tan irresponsable!" (Why are you home so late?! Do you have any idea how worried I was about you? Belinda Reyna Santiago are you listening to me?! you're trying to kill me, you wicked child! I've been sitting here, waiting for you! I almost called the police, what if you were killed or hurt? I never thought in a million years that you would be so irresponsible!)

Marcella started yelling the moment her grand-daughter walked in, hidden in the shadows. She'd been waiting for her to come home for hours now, and had been worried sick. Belinda was so precious to her, and she couldn't bear the thoughts that had raced through her mind the entire night. She was aware of Bella's reputation at her school, but she knew the real Belinda. Her Belinda was a passionate, intelligent, considerate, and golden-hearted young woman.

Belinda had been taking care of her grandmother for a long time now, and they both knew that Belinda had adopted her sassy-ness and wit from Marcella. They were both incredibly strong women, both were very funny and tough. And had become so close over these last years, it wasn't strange for Belinda to occasionally call her by her first name.

But Belinda had crossed the line tonight; she was supposed to be home at 10:00 pm. Despite her "bad" reputation, Belinda always came home on time; it was one of the many ways she showed her abuela how much she loved and respected her. Now, Belinda slowly stepped towards her furious grandmother.

"Abuela…"

This did not sound like Belinda, her voice was too weak and too shaky. And then she stepped into the lighted up kitchen, Marcella gasped. Her Belinda was bruised all over. Her face stained with tears, her lips bitten and bloody, her legs shaking, and her arms wrapped around herself protectively. Marcella immediately put an arm around her and guided her over to a chair.

"Oh mi dios. Oh mi pequeño ángel, ¿qué pasó? que está bien, dime qué pasó querida. La abuela está aquí, está bien ahora." (Oh my god. Oh my little angel, what happened? it's okay, tell me what happened darling. Grandmother is here, it's okay now.)

Belinda squeezed her eyes shut, her jaw tightened. She was trying not to cry, she hated to cry. She'd allowed herself a few tears when she knew they weren't looking and then again as she walked home. And she'd bitten down on her lip to keep from screaming too loud while they took their turns with her. Belinda was never scared of anything or anybody. But tonight, she had been _**terrified.**_

She'd fought and she'd lost.

"I... Yo sólo ... Lo siento mucho, lo siento por lo que te preocupa. Nunca quise hacerte daño, nunca." (I...I'm just...I'm so sorry, I'm sorry for making you worry. I never meant to hurt you, never.) Marcella waved her hand as if shooing away an annoying fly, "Never mind that, what happened? Bella, look at me por favor. Tell me what happened" she said, cupping Belinda's face in her hands.

She'd fought and she'd lost.

"Yo...fui violada por una pandilla, abuela…Luché tan duro y...y perdí. Yo estaba demasiado débil...No podía escapar...Yo estaba tan asustada!" (I was...I was raped by a gang, grandmother...I fought so hard and...and I lost. I was too weak...I couldn't get away...I was so scared!)

Marcella immediately pulled her into a tight embrace, pressing her lips against the top of her head and keeping her steady as the body-racking sobs swept through her like hurricanes. She hadn't seen Bella cry this hard since Grandfather Alejandro had passed away. It broke her heart to see her 'tough cookie' falling apart like this. The way she'd said those last words, _"Yo estaba tan asustada!"_ sounded as if it were a dark confession and she probably felt as it was. To her, confessing to anyone that she had felt anything akin to fear was simply out of the question.

But she had said it, she had confessed.

Belinda was trying to block out the images that were playing like horror films behind her tightly closed eyes, she was trying to focus on the smell of her grandmother's perfume, the sound of the grandfather clock ticking away quietly, the velvet of Marcella's jacket against her skin.

"_Heh-Heh-Heh-Heh; Ain't she a beauty! Oy, Alex when do I get like a turn?"_

"_Almost finished with the baddiwad malenky devotchka, brother."_

She hugged her grandmother tighter, Marcella gently pried her away. "We need to go the hospital, darling." But Belinda went rigid, shaking her head no. "Honey, you might have been hurt…inside. I won't leave you for a moment, I promise"

"No, I…I can't go and have people touch me like that…I can't tell anyone what they did to me…if I say what they did…I just can't, I don't want to think about it. I just want to move on"

Marcella watched helplessly as Belinda attempted to walk up the stairs with the dignity that had been viciously stripped from her. Her legs were wobbly, and she walked slowly. "Por favor, deja que te ayude" (Pleae, let me help you) Marcella said, but Belinda shook her head no, refusing help. "No se olvide de tomar su medicamento, abuela. Te quiero mucho, buenas noches." (Don't forget to take your medicine, grandma. I love you so much, goodnight)

"I love you too, and Belinda?"

Belinda turned just before she'd reached the top of the stairs, Marcella's emerald green eyes were filled with tears. "You are stronger than stone, don't you ever forget that"

Her grandmother was wrong, but Belinda forced herself to smile and thank her. She dragged herself into bed, not having the energy to do anything else. She stared out the window, and wondered if there some other poor girl suffering as she had right now. "If you are suffering like I was…I'm so sorry" she said, meaning it for whatever girl might be out there at this moment. Five words kept repeating like a broken record inside her mind, "She'd fought and she'd lost"

Belinda could feel herself dying, as if her entire body was rotting away. She felt as if she was twenty feet under water, suffocating. She started to dry heave, her body shaking. She was struggling not to cry again, she'd already cried three times tonight. She was Belinda Reyna Santiago, for fuck's sake! She was stronger than this (she'd fought and she'd lost) she was a tough-ass bitch (she'd fought and she'd lost) nothing could intimidate her (she'd been so terrified and it had hurt and she didn't want to be there and…) she could get through this by herself, no help needed.

No, she needed help. She wanted help, but she couldn't ask for it. Asking for it would show people how weak she was, and she needed to be strong.

Belinda inhaled and exhaled, counting her breaths. She felt the tears streaming down her cheeks, stinging her scabbing lips. She buried her face in a pillow to muffle her sobs.

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_**Please Review**_


	5. A Dull throbbing Ache

**Because We Have Each Other**

**Thank you DemonBarber14: Don't worry your malenky rassodock about it, little sister, thou reviews are a horrorshow delight to viddy no matter the length-**oh, wait sorry. Alex stole my laptop-I always love and appreciate your reviews so don't worry about them being too short or whatever, I always look forward to them. :) And also, best of luck to you on your performances this week.

Thank you bibliophilechild for your support and kind words :)

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**Lucille's Story {Part Two}**

_"Christine! Come in here, come on! You're not going to believe this!" Ronald Coleman called out to his wife, who was currently getting out of a warm bath as fast as she could. "I'm coming, goodness! Where's the fire?" she came out wrapped in a bath towel, traces of soap suds still in her hair. Her husband was holding their seven year old daughter on their lap, the child looked prideful and happy. "Okay baby, show mama what you showed me" Christine opened her mouth but Ronald put his index finger to his lips and mouthed "Listen" to her. He was sitting at the piano, and he started playing the chords to Ricky Valens' "We Belong Together"_

_Christine's eyes filled with tears as her daughter opened her mouth and sang, the sound even at this young age was absolutely beautiful. A voice that would only improve and grow even stronger as she got older, it was sweet now—strong for her age yes—but still very sweet. At this age, she was filled with a confidence that only a child could feel. She wasn't concerned with people liking her or not, she was just having fun. She tap-danced around the piano, smiling and even winking playfully at her mama. ("the little ham!" her mother thought affectionately)_

_"We Belong Together" became Ronald and Lucille's song. It comforted her, and as the years went by one of them would start it either vocally or on the piano; no matter what they were doing, whether he was doing the bills or she was studying for a history test, they would sit side by side and sing together at the beautiful black piano. From the age of twelve, she'd already had it picked out as her father-daughter song at her wedding (which she'd been planning since she was ten years old)_

She was curled up in the bathtub, her bruised arms wrapped around her legs. Her knees drawn up to her chest and her face buried in the crooks of her arms. She was crying, because she just didn't know what else to do. They didn't teach girls what to do after…after…they've been _hurt_. (She just couldn't say the "R" word, she couldn't. It would destroy her) God, she'd been so terrified and it felt as if he was ripping her apart with every violent thrust, it did not feel good in the slightest sense of the word. It bruised, ached, ripped, filled, burned, tortured, stretched, and just plain **hurt** her.

Lucille turned on the water, even her arms were shaking. She was shaking as if she was cold, but the truth was; she was horribly numb. The excruciating pain between her legs where he forced…where he hurt her, was now a dull throbbing ache. She felt as if, a car could come crashing through her wall and run her over and she wouldn't even care. She might even welcome it. She looked down and let out a sound akin to an animal on a slaughtering block. It was a sound of emotional agony at its worst.

She could see her blood and his semen.

Almost violently, she turned the hot water on all the way. Completely ignoring the cold side, she grabbed her loofa and squeezed—shampoo? Body wash?—whatever onto it. She started to scrub herself, gritting her teeth as the horrendous pain rushed up her entire body. She was sobbing so hard it borderline-d on screaming. She was scrubbing her abused womanhood with frightening harshness. And it hurt, the soap and the roughness of her attempts at getting rid of the plague she felt crawling around inside of her, she scrubbed so hard it burned and stung.

Finally, with a defeated sob, she stopped and simply lay there. Watching through tear-filled eyes and her blood dispersed into the water, the tainted filthy water. She wrapped her arms around herself and her lips parted just slightly, she began to sing in a broken tiny voice. _"You're mine…(shudder) and…and we (whispered) belong together…(sung) yes we…belong together…f-for...(sobbing) eternity…"_ and she wanted to run to her parents, she wanted to cuddle up between them and tell them everything and have them hold her close but no.

If they knew how filthy she was, how utterly dirty and nasty he had made her; they wouldn't love her anymore. It would break their hearts, they were already stressed enough as it was. She just had to ignore it and it would go away right? Yes, just push it away and pretend it never happened. That's what she'd do. It would work out fine, so…why was she still crying? Why did she still feel so…broken? It was a cliché word, but it was the only one that seemed to fit. She was just broken.

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**Please Review!**

Sorry it's short, the next one will (hopefully) be much longer! If anyone is slightly confused, I'll try to explain the story so far. So the first chapter, we were introduced to Belinda and Lucille. Second chapter was Belinda's interaction with Alex and the implied rape scene (part one of her rape storyline), the third chapter went to Lucille and her interaction with Alex and the house invasion/rape scene (part one of her rape storyline), and the third chapter went back to Belinda telling her grandmother that she was gang raped (part two of her rape storyline), and here we are now (part two of Lucy's rape storyline). The scene in chapter one with them in the car doesn't happen-obviously-until a bit later. I sort of wanted to start the story off by letting you-the readers-know that they would eventually find each other. This story will have a happy ending, well...happy according to me as well as happy as a Clockwork Orange story could get without being too overly unrealistic.

_But let's be honest, this is my story. I can do whatever the hell I want. ;)_


	6. Just spit it out

**Because We Have Each Other**

**Thank you so much Bibliophilechild & DemonBarber14 *Hugs***

**I hope you guys are prepared for one hell of ride, I have the entire layout for this story mapped out. The final chapter will be **_**Chapter 40**_**. Making this the longest story I've ever written. I'm pretty excited. :D**

**Mistake: In the first chapter, I strongly hinted at Lucy's attack being a gang rape. I apologize, I wasn't thinking straight. Belinda's attack was indeed a gang rape, but Lucy's was a solo rape.**

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"Now, should we treat women as independent agents, responsible for themselves? Of course. But being responsible has nothing to do with being raped. Women don't get raped because they were drinking or took drugs. Women do not get raped because they weren't careful enough. Women get raped because _someone raped them._" - Jessica Valenti, _The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women_

_._

_._

_._

Belinda walked along the flat block marina with her hands in her pockets, it was April and while she usually wore dresses to show off her legs and smooth skin; she was wearing a pair of jeans, a long sleeved high-collar blouse, and a grey jacket zipped almost all the way up. It made her feel safer. But still, she missed the light breeze dancing up her legs.

She walked to a bus station, having decided to skip school today. She sat by herself, facing the window and stared at the blurred world that whizzed past her. She didn't know where she was going, she didn't have the energy to care. And then it stopped at the Woman's Shelter and without thinking; she got off. Like a marionette with her strings being pulled, she was walking up the stairs.

Each step weighed a hundred pounds, and she screamed at herself to turn back. But she was walking into the place, the woman at the desk smiled at her. "Can I help you dear?" Belinda opened her mouth but nothing came out, _Do it. Just tell her, tell someone. Anyone. Get it off your chest. _"I…I was wondering if I could use the restroom" the woman nodded, "It's just down that hall, to the right"

She saw an empty room, with an elevated bed. Not thinking, not caring, she walked inside and shut the door behind her, she crawled under the covers and closed her eyes. How long would it take for them to realize she didn't belong there? But she was so _exhausted,_ it was as if she hadn't slept for a hundred years. Every time she closed her eyes she saw them, she saw him. Would the workers here let her sleep for a few years? Just until it was safe to wake up again.

_Alex pinned her wrists above her head, "Georgie Boy; hand me my trusty britva, will you?" he asked his friend in a polite, gentlemanly tone. The tall lanky boy smiled and retrieved the weapon, without saying anything to each other; Alex let go and Georgie's hands replaced his while Alex started to slice her dress apart, he was sitting on her legs and the fat one was pinning her ankles down so she couldn't kick them._

Her tightly shut eyes shot open, she blinked away tears and got out of the hospital bed. What was she doing? She wasn't sick, not really. She was falling apart with every breath, yes, but not dying. So, she hurried out before anyone could notice she'd even been in there. She stopped at the desk again, "I need to talk to someone…I…" fuck, she seethed inside of her head; she hated herself for this, "I need help"

The woman gently led her to an office, where a woman was organizing various documents into files. "Dr. Fredrick, this young woman wishes to speak with you" the doctor thanked the woman and sat down, inviting Belinda to sit down as well. "What can I help you with?" _Just open your mouth and say it, scream it, whisper it…whatever. Just say it. _but her jaw was locked shut. But the doctor was patient; she'd after all dealt with child abuse, drug abuse, domestic violence, and rape on a daily basis.

"I was…assaulted" She finally blurted out, staring at the tiled floor with her teeth grinding. She was so angry, and she didn't know how to release it. She was angry at them, angry at herself for being weak, she was just angry. "Have you been to a hospital? Have you had a rape kit done?" Belinda rolled her eyes, "I don't need one. I'm fine" "No, you're not. And you're very brave to ask for help"

"It's not brave! It's a sign of weakness"

_He put his hand over her mouth, muffling her angry screams. The fat one was laughing obnoxiously and squeezing her breasts roughly, pinching her nipples so hard they bled. She felt the cool air against her naked flesh and saw Alex pulling down his pants and underwear, she struggled but to no avail. Without any warning, he plunged inside of her. Tears burst into her eyes, and she blinked them away. The hand had been removed but she was biting her lip, refusing to make a sound._

_She started to scream, unable to hold it in anymore. His hips hit hers with every thrust, and he was hurting her. But she refused to cry, only screaming in pain and anger. But no tears, no…she was crying. God fucking damn it, she was crying. She was so utterly pathetic. She tried to stop herself, but the tears kept coming and she was still shrieking in anger, her body racked with her violent sobs as he pinned his body against hers and forced himself into her._

_"Heh-Heh-Heh-Heh; Ain't she a beauty! Oy, Alex when do I get like a turn?" the fat one said, bending to run his disgusting tongue over her nipple, she shrieked in revulsion. Alex's thrusts were getting harder but shorter as well, and she could tell he was close. She was no virgin.__"Almost finished with the baddiwad malenky devotchka, brother." He sneered, grabbing her jaw in a vice grip; Alex kissed her hard as his hips slammed into hers one last time. _

"_Have a horroshow time, my little droog" he said in a boisterous tone to his fat friend, Belinda was disoriented from the pain. "…no more…" she whispered softly, but if he heard it—he didn't care, and there was a weight on her, heavy. He smelled sweaty, and his lips were blubbery and wet against hers. She bit his lip hard, and he reeled back in pain. Alex tsked and whacked her thigh with his cane, "Now, Now behave yourself or I'll be tempted filly another eegra with you"_

_Dim grabbed onto her breasts, and pushed himself inside of her. He didn't last anywhere near as long as Alex, and for that she was grateful. And then the tall lanky one, Georgie, had his turn. The fourth one didn't, he wouldn't even look at her. But then, "Pete-y boy; it's your turn" Alex said, but Pete shook his head no. Alex rolled his eyes, "Fine." He turned to her and spat a wad of saliva downwards, aiming for her face. It hit her nose and a little bit of her lips._

_And then they were gone_

Belinda was filled with a sudden fear, the numbness was gone. And this fear, hurt, and anger was much more painful to deal with than the cold numbness. When she was numb it was easier to pretend that was just too tired, too stressed. But admitting that she'd been raped, allowing her mind to look at that memory, made it painfully real. And that scared her. By admitting that she—Belinda Reyna Santiago—had fought as hard as she could, screamed, clawed, bit, spat above all other things…and ended up being fucked violently by a group of men while she sobbed in pain?

Asking for help, for someone to stop the pain was not a sign of bravery. It only meant that she was weak, that she couldn't save herself. And she hated herself for it. The doctor was still going on but Belinda abruptly stood up and left, never once looking back. She didn't go anywhere near the Woman's Shelter for almost a month. But then she went back, under the request of her grandmother.

And the second time at the Woman's Shelter, Lucille Coleman walked in.

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**Please Review!**


	7. Storm Clouds in her Head

**Because We Have Each Other**

**Thank you so much Bibliophilechild, DemonBarber14, and TheWeasleyBoys!**

**::What do you guys think of my new cover? By "love" I don't mean **_**in love**_**, But of course we love our best friends right? I tell my best friend that I love her :D So, no there won't be any femslash. I thought about it briefly, but decided against it. I think because, Belinda is inspired by Santana from Glee who happens to a lesbian it would just seem like way too much to have Bella be like that to.::**

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_The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love.  
_**Hubert H. Humphrey, Jr.**

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"So, how excited are you about the talent show?" Christine asked her daughter as she transferred a serving-spoonful of freshly cut strawberries onto Lucille's waffles. "I'm very excited" Lucille said, but her voice cracked from trying to sound happy. It was getting harder and harder at pretending to be happy or excited about anything, there was a terrible weight on her and she wanted to tell her…maybe not everything, just the bad dreams and the fact that she was dying from the inside out.

But he'd threatened to hurt them, kill them and her if she said a word. She had to protect them, but she wondered if she would have told them otherwise. If he hadn't said anything, would she have the courage to admit it? Either way, her lips were sealed. No matter how much she wanted to tell them. Her mother saw right through her, "You don't sound very excited. In fact, you've been a little down over the past few weeks. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, mom. I'm just really stressing out over the talent show case" She sprayed some whip cream on top of strawberry mountain and cut a piece, it tasted like childhood. Sweet and nostalgic and (was it because of the rape?) _melancholy_. She'd been raped almost a month ago now, and she was constantly on the edge of breaking down, even if most people didn't realize it. It was at night, in her bed that she would allow herself to shove her blanket into her mouth and scream as hard as she could.

Every, "Are you okay?" or "how are you feeling today, kiddo?" from her parents was replied with a "I'm great" or "tired…but very excited about the show" she never said what she really wanted to say.

_I was __**raped**__ mommy, I was raped and it __**hurt so badly**__ and I was __**so scared**__, and __**he was mean**__ and horrible. He didn't care that he was hurting me, __**he made me bleed**__ and I keep taking hot showers and scrubbing my skin but __**I'm still dirty**__ and I can't tell you any of this because you'd realize how tainted I am now and __**you wouldn't love me**__ anymore but oh, I want to tell you so badly and papa to._

Lucille's mother looked at her daughter with scrutiny, but reluctantly let it go. "Tu ferais mieux d'y aller, l'amour, vous ne voulez pas être en retard pour l'école." (You better get going, love, you don't want to be late for school.) Lucy nodded and put her dirty plate into the sink, grabbing her Wizard of Oz lunchbox and kissing her mother on the cheek. Her father was a bit under the weather, and was currently snoozing away upstairs. "Je vais faire la vaisselle quand je rentre à la maison, avoir une bonne journée. Rester en sécurité." (I'll do the dishes when I get home, have a good day. Stay safe)

Her head was filled with thick storm clouds by the time she reached third period, "Alright class. Today is an exciting day, Lucille…Robert are you guys ready?" Mr. Everstone asked, clapping his hands together once. He was her favorite teacher. Maybe she could…no. "I'm ready and eager!" Robbie said cheerfully, Lucille gave a small smile that felt sadly out of place. A tiny nod accompanied the smile, "Alright then. Everyone quiet down, full attention on today's stars! Lucille Coleman and Robert Lawson performing 'Ding Dong the Witch is Dead' take it away!"

Robbie was immediately energetic and in-character, smiling and dancing around as the piano chimed in, Lucille followed along just fine and even managed to smile without it hurting her. She was genuinely happy up here, dancing with Robbie. She started to sing, "Once there was a wicked witch in the lovely land of Oz and a wickeder, wickeder, wickeder witch there never ever was!" so far so good, now Robbie was singing, "She filled the munchkins with terror and with dread! 'till one fine day from Kansas…" Lucille put an arm around his shoulder and chimed in "…a house fell on her head!" except she didn't sing "a house fell on her head" she sang "get out of that bed!"

Robbie, thrown off, stopped abruptly and so did she. Her face was burning from embarrassment, Mr. Lawson was just as surprised as everyone in the classroom. This was Lucille, not only was she the star of the classroom but this was from the Wizard of Oz, her "all-time favorite movie in the entire universe" as she often told people. She was a very shy person yes, but when she was in her Musical Theater class she was a lot more open, though it had taken her almost four months to feel comfortable around her classmates and teacher enough to sing openly for them. She loved everyone here and they loved her.

_They wouldn't love you if they knew_

"I'm so sorry, I'm sorry Robbie. I don't know what happened, I just…I'm sorry" she apologized, she really did feel badly. The assembly was tomorrow night, a celebration of the arts and she and Robbie were supposed to sing and dance this number. They'd been performing it for the class almost once a week for thought and suggestions. Singing wasn't just about opening your mouth and hitting the right notes, not for Lucille. It was about making the audience feel what you're feeling, it was about adding your own flavor to the song and making it your own.

Lucille's favorite quote and personal motto was taped to her bedroom mirror, _"Always be a first-rate version of yourself and never a second-rate version of somebody else"-Judy Garland. _

"Could we just, could we start it again?"

And they started again, this time she got it right. "And the coroner pronounced her…Dead!" they both sang, their voices really did sound amazing together. She often joked to Robbie that he was so wonderful that he made her want to his boyfriend, yes he was gay. He loved Oz and Judy just as much as she did, which was quite lovely in her opinion. "And through the town the joyous news runnin', the joyous news that the wicked old Witch was finally done in…"

Wait, when was she supposed to start her next line? Oh no, she missed it. Robbie, thrown off for the second time and understandably annoyed stopped and folded his arms across his chest. Giving her what they jokingly called the "Bitch Please: Gay Version 2.0" it would have made her smile if it wasn't directed at her. "I'm sorry!" she apologized, why was she messing up so much today? She never messed up this badly, wait scratch that…she never messed up. Period.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Hannah asked, leaning forward in her seat with a worried expression. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine I just…could I go get a drink of water, Mr. Lawson? Please?" Lucy asked, her eyes prickling with tears that she tried to hide by putting her hand to her forehead salute style and casting her gaze downwards. "Of course, But could I talk to you in my office when you get back? You're not in trouble" he added when he saw her expression.

She took her time getting her drink, walking slowly. Then she was back, and closing the door behind her as he sat down in his chair. She sat across from him with her hands fisted on her knees and her eyes cast downwards. "Lucy, are you sure that you're okay? You haven't been yourself at all this last month, you're not cheerful anymore; you're withdrawn, you blank out easily, and I've been told more than once that you've been crying in the bathroom in between classes."

Lucy's eyes were filling with heavy tears, she blinked rapidly a few times and they turned into a miniscule pearls on her eyelashes. "Lucy, you don't even smile the same way you used to. If something is wrong, you can tell me. You know that"

"I want to…but I can't…"

"Has someone hurt you? Please, tell me?"

She looked at him, saw his kind and concerned face and it stumbled out of her lips before she could stop it. "I was raped" and his face went white, he stood up and so did she. For a moment they just stared, her with tears slowly rolling down her cheeks and her lips trembling, him ashen faced and shaking. It wasn't exactly against the rules for teachers to hug their students, it was simply a line that was silently agreed should not be crossed, but when Mr. Lawson pulled her into his arms, it felt completely natural.

"It's going to be okay, you're going to be okay. Listen, my cousin was in a physically abusive relationship with her boyfriend and she went to the Woman's Shelter in London, they were really nice to her. I can get you the address; will you go and get some help?"

And she did.

* * *

Belinda stood up and went to storm out when someone walked in. She stopped and her breath caught in her throat, she remembered her. She looked so sad and lost, she was hugging herself and she looked as if she was the verge of crying at any second. They locked eyes, "Hi Belinda" she said in a soft voice. "It happened to you to?" Belinda asked quietly, Lucille grabbed her hand and lead her back to the group circle.

They sat next to each other.

* * *

"_..We are going to survive this"_

"_How do you know?"_

"_Because we have each other"_

Belinda and Lucille **_smiled_** at each other and for the first time in a very long time, it didn't hurt to do so.

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**Please Review**

Whew, now we're back full circle!


	8. You Give Me Courage

Thank you DemonBarber14 *Snuggles* and Bibliophilechild *Snugglesforyoutoo!* :D

**AN:** Okay, don't hurt me! I know Alex is barely in this story so far (only showing up in memories/flashbacks) but keep in mind this is 40 chapters long. I wanted you guys to become well acquainted with Bella and Lucy, as well as for Bella and Lucy to have time to discover each other and develop a bond before Alex could potentially ruin everything with his…Alex-ness. So, I'm sorry but no Alex in this chapter; but he will be in the story starting in the next chapter!

Gang Rape vs Individual Rape: I was thinking about this because the lovely DemonBarber14 mentioned it in a past review; Belinda is gang raped while Lucy is raped strictly by Alex himself. When I made this decision, I simply wanted their experiences to be different. Thinking about it now, here are my thoughts.

Belinda's assault was (in Alex's sick mind) supposed to be a punishment; she mouthed off at him and his droogs and even hinted at him being a homosexual. I think that Alex would find someone even hinting this would be a sign of great disrespect against his authority. Rape is all about power, and since Bella was such a strong personality, Alex committed his heinous crime against her with his droogs to "take her down a notch" it's sickening but it's the truth.

Now for Lucille, poor naïve innocent Lucy; Alex raped Lucy because she was so innocent. _My_ Alex Delarge feeds on innocence, he loves to taint it. He's dominating and possessive, so he sort of sees her rape as a sort of claim. He preys on vulnerability, and Lucy—sitting at a table by herself and day dreaming—was a very vulnerable girl.

For anyone who might be wondering where the heck Alex has been, he's just been off doing his…thing (If that's what you can it) I just don't see him sticking around, I think that after he's finished with a girl he sort of stops seeing her, he simply sweeps her under the rug and moves onto the next. Sorry for all the rambling :/

* * *

If you ever find yourself stuck in the middle of the sea  
I'll sail the world to find you  
If you ever find yourself lost in the dark and you can't see  
I'll be the light to guide you  
Find out what we're made of  
When we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like 1, 2, 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2  
You'll be there  
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah

If you're tossin' and you're turnin'  
And you just can't fall asleep  
I'll sing a song beside you  
And if you ever forget how much you really mean to me  
Every day I will remind you  
Oooh  
Find out what we're made of  
When we are called to help our friends in need

You can count on me like 1, 2, 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2  
You'll be there  
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Ooooooh, oooohhh yeah, yeah  
You'll always have my shoulder when you cry  
I'll never let go, never say goodbye  
You know...

You can count on me like 1, 2, 3  
I'll be there  
And I know when I need it  
I can count on you like 4, 3, 2  
You'll be there  
'Cause that's what friends are supposed to do, oh yeah  
Ooooooh, oooohhh

You can count on me 'cause I can count on you

_**-Bruno Mars, Count on Me**_

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Belinda and Lucille continued to attend Group Sessions at the Woman's Shelter, always sitting side by side. It was sometime in the middle of their second week when Belinda silently grabbed hold of her hand and didn't let go; and from then on they always held hands. When one of them would speak and sometimes choke up or become unable to move on, the other would gently squeeze her hand. It was a silent but strong message between them that said: "It's okay. I'm here"

When Lucille's phone went off in the middle of night, she'd wake up and answer groggily. The moment she heard Belinda's voice, she was ready and willing to be the rock in the raging sea for her; and vice versa. But there were also times when they would talk about nice things; sometimes they would even laugh a little if you can believe that. They spent hours learning about each other, discovering the other person. Lucille admired the attributes that Belinda believed she no longer had, and Belinda admired the qualities that Lucy was convinced were no longer in possession.

They saw the beauty in each other, but could not see it in themselves. "How are your parents taking it?" Belinda asked her, as she cradled the phone by her ear so she could stir the sauce into the spaghetti. "I told mom the day before I went to the Woman's Shelter, it was hard…we cried a lot and hugged, and then dad came home. He was really upset, kept demanding to know who hurt me and said he'd have his head on a stick" Belinda couldn't help but crack a grin. "I like how your dad thinks"

One stormy night, the Santiago house phone rang, Marcella answered. She hadn't met Lucille yet but she'd been told by Belinda how great she was. "May I please speak with Bella?" the young woman asked, her voice wavering. "Of course, dear" Marcella said, beckoning Bella over (who was currently reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise) "It's Lucille"

"Lucy?"

"I remember, there was a storm (sob) just like tonight…he knocked on the door…asked me for help and he sounded…he sounded so sincere and s-scared…I let him in! I let him into my house! I'm so stupid! It's my entire fault! (sob)"

"No, you're not. Lucy, listen to me, you're not stupid. And how the hell is it your fault, honey? You thought someone needed your help, it's sickening that someone would take advantage of that."

"Could…could you come over?"

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes"

Belinda told her grandmother where'd she be, and hopped into the car. She kept her promise and was walking up the stairs to Lucy's house. Her father answered, a man who was obviously quite handsome back in his youth. "Hi, I'm Belinda; I'm sorry to intru-…" but she didn't get to finish her sentence, he was pulling her into an embrace. He kissed the top of her head, and for a moment she wondered if this was what having a father felt like, if it did…she really didn't mind.

"Thank You" he murmured, and then he let go. He felt like there was no need to say anything more, nothing else covered his gratitude. Even if Belinda didn't fully realize it, she was helping Lucy to survive this horrific thing that had happened to them. "She's upstairs, in her bedroom" he told her. Belinda smiled at him and went upstairs; she peeked into a room and could immediately tell it was Lucy's room. She was curled up tightly under the blankets, but she heard the door open.

Belinda went sit on her bed, and Lucy wrapped her arms around her. Resting her head on her shoulder, she was crying and Bella didn't say a word. This one of those moments when it was best to just _be there_ and because it was Lucy, Belinda allowed herself a moment of weakness and cried as well. They cried because they were hurt and because they were angry. An hour or two later, they were both wiping away the last of their tears. Belinda smiled, "Well then…let's see this room of yours, huh?"

Lucy's walls were a light pink, posters of old Hollywood actresses covered the walls; some from magazines and some that were obviously more expensive. One wall was completely covered by lavender book shelves, and of course most of the shelves were filled with movie merchandise. The top three shelves were dedicated to the Wizard of Oz; music boxes, porcelain figurines, collector Barbie Dolls from the 1950s, Ruby slippers; one that was a perfect replica and some others that had been designed for the Oz anniversary by famous designers, and framed posters from different countries.

"So…I'm just going to go out on a whim here, but…I'm guessing Wizard of Oz is your favorite movie?" Belinda said, Lucille stuck her tongue at her and threw a pillow at her. This was nice; Bella had never had a girlfriend before. She wasn't really a "sleep-overs-and-gossip-about-all-the-super-hot-bad-boys" type of girl but neither was Lucy. Belinda was amazed by how much they got along. But the more she thought about it, the more it made sense.

They were like puzzle pieces, unique and completely different but they fit together. They simply completed each other, what the other lacked was made up by the other. They sat with other at school during lunch, and when a boy who was a grade lower tripped and knocked over Lucy's fountain drink; causing it to fall into Lucy's lap Belinda stood up and started yelling, the stupid kid had been running. It was Lucy's gentle hand on her arm that calmed her down, "it's okay Bella. He apologized, I can call my mom and she'll bring me some new clothes." Now that she was calm, Bella could see that the kid really was sorry and now; he was able to explain that he was new and had gotten his lunch and third period mixed up, he panicked because he'd already missed twenty minutes of class.

But then there was the time that Belinda was walking down the hallway, only to discover Lucy with her back pressed against the locker being terrorized by a group of crew-cut jocks. "Heard you were raped, is that what they're calling it these days? Why don't you come with us for some fun, baby? I mean you're already ruined goods right? Come on…" Belinda was there in a heart-beat, punching him so hard his lip split open and somehow, seeing this gave Lucy courage to kick another one between his legs. "Fuck this!" one said, and they all took off running. One of them cupping his crotch and groaning.

"That felt good"

They laughed.

* * *

"What up, _Princess_ Robbie?" Belinda teased as Lucille's best gay walked into her room, looking more fashionable that Bella or any other girl in their school would ever hope to be. But because of him, Lucy and Bella were getting pretty close to his level. He saw Bella's lazy fashion style of t-shirts and jeans and gasped dramatically, calling it a vicious crime against fabulosity. Bella pretended to not like it when he'd perform one of his ambush make overs on her but they both knew she loved it.

"I'm doing wonderful, thanks for asking bitch" he replied, winking at her. Lucy was the bathroom, it was a silent agreement that the three of them wouldn't talk about the sexual assaults. This was_ their_ time, their time to tease each other and to have fashion shows and watch movies and dance around. Lucy sang in front of Bella for the first time, who stood up and clapped so enthusiastically her hands burned afterwards. But still, they couldn't avoid the deep hurt forever. It was at night or sometimes even in the middle of the day that one of them would fall apart and call the other.

"It's okay, Bella, everything will be alright. Just listen to sound of my voice until you fall asleep"

"Sing to me, okay? Please, it hurts so much Lucy…I just hurt so much inside"

"I know, I know Bella…_How very special are we, for just a moment to be, part of life's eternal rhyme? How very special are we, to have on our family tree…mother Earth and Father Tim?, he turns the seasons around and so she changes her gown…but they always look in their prime, they go on dancing their dance of everlasting romance…"_Bella would fall asleep, and the subconscious memory of Lucy's voice singing softly through the phone, just for her, would keep the shadows at bay (even if just for that night)

They didn't judge each other, hardly ever asked questions. They just knew, they understood how scared and hurt and angry the other one felt. Belinda told her about her mother, she hadn't spoken about her or allowed herself to think about her since she'd been arrested. But she was angry, hurt, and confused by the whole thing. What had she done to make her mother hate her so much? Why did she hate her so much when Belinda had tried so hard to be a good girl? Lucy had a pet cat named Ruby, and Belinda was there for the funeral after she got run over by a distracted driver.

Lucille went over to Belinda's house for the first time and enjoyed authentic Spanish food, made from scratch. Marcella was kind to her, and sometimes slipped into her native tongue. She often did so when speaking especially affectionately to someone. Belinda showed her, her bedroom. The walls were maroon colored, the bulk of the room dominated by the most comfortable bed Lucy had ever seen.

It was a lot messier and less organized than Lucy's, clothes hanging out of drawers and scarves thrown over tall lamps, a pile of dirty clothes in the corner. "It's not always like this, it's a miracle abuela hasn't beaten me to death with a chair yet" she teased as she tried to tidy up a little, Lucy sat on her bed Indian Style and hugged a pillow against her chest.

"What do you want to be, Bella…I mean, when you grow up? You already know I want to be a famous singer but what about you?" she asked, Belinda shrugged but takes a moment to think about it. "I'm not sure, I've always been a live-in-the-moment type of person" Lucy laughed, "I've had the outline of my life planned out since I was ten years old." Their muffled giggles soon faded away. "Baby Doll…if we do get over our rapes…what will happen with us? Will we still be friends?" Belinda asked her, she'd recently taken to calling her Baby Doll. It fit perfectly in her mind.

"Listen to me, Tough Cookie, you and I…we're going to be best friends forever. You want to know why? Because you are not a rape victim, nor am I…that's not who we are, you're Belinda Santiago and you're the most daring, witty, beautiful, funny person I know. You're my rock Bella, you give me courage…and I know you get scared sometimes, I do to. We are never going to just get over what happened to us, I wish we could but we can't. For the rest of our lives, we'll have our good days and we'll have our bad days. But I'll tell you what, I'm going to be right there with you on the bad ones. I love you, Belinda. I love you very much, I know that can't fix everything but still"

A film of tears blurred both girls' eyes, "I love you a lot, baby doll. And you know what? We're not best friends, we're _sisters_. And I'm not going to _ever_ let _anyone_ hurt you again"

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**Please Review**

**I moved to a new school for my senior year of High School and had to leave my best friend behind, we've been best friends since the 4****th**** grade so writing this kind gave me a nostalgic and melancholy feeling. **


	9. The Big Bad Wolf

Thank you DemonBarber14, Bibliophilechild (*Returns Fist Bump* :D), and Guest for reviewing :) I was smiling like an idiot reading your reviews, and one time when I was looking back and re-reading the other ones you guys left behind I got so distracted I ran into a wall 8D haha

Disturbing Content Ahead, but hey...knowing me that's no surprise :p

* * *

When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach

And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on, it gets so heavy

The wheel breaks the butterfly

**-Coldplay, Paradise**

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Lucy walked with an eager bounce in her step; the day was bright and warm. She was on an outing to the popular disc boutique, Melodia. She wanted to buy Belinda the new "Heaven Seventeen" record, there was no special occasion but Lucy wanted to show her that she was grateful for their friendship. She walked in and quickly located the records under the "H" section. Of course, she didn't just want to buy the first one she saw. She had to compare quality, number of songs, the cover art etc.

"Pardon me, love" a masculine voice sounded from behind her, she quickly moved to the side to allow him enough room to browse in the section as well. She didn't pay much attention to him, but then he started talking again. "Are you shopping for a droog, little sister?" he asked her, not even looking at the records his fingers were skittering through, like spiders. "Yes, I am" she said politely. He was far away enough for comfort, and he wasn't doing anything bad. "Perhaps I could like help you, right right?"

"No, thank you" she said, smiling quickly at him, but the moment their eyes met she felt as if cubes of ice were sliding up and down her spine. But she couldn't jump to conclusions; she couldn't accuse someone simply because they had the same electric blue eyes. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable now in this handsome young man's presence. She pulled her selection out of the bin and gave him a brief farewell, trying to leave as soon as possible.

Was that him? If it was, did he remember her or was she just another face less victim? If it wasn't, had she just ruined a possible friendship or perhaps even a love? He was handsome, and very well-spoken. The monster who attacked her had worn a mask, but she remembered blue eyes. Piercing electric blue. She was half-way to Bella's apartment when the same young man suddenly stepped out, "We never properly introduced ourselves, did we my love?" he sneered, sort of nastily at her.

"N-No, we didn't. I'm Lucy, I'm sorry but I have to go now"

"And who said, pray tell, that you were ittying off anywhere little sister?" he growled, his lips curling up into a malicious smirk. Her heart was pounding, but she tried to stay calm. This was just some stupid boy acting all cute with her, he wasn't dangerous and he wasn't going to hurt her. If anything he was just a jerk, right? "I'm going to have a real horrorshow time, fillying with you, my darling" he sneered, and her heart stuttered, her eyes prickled with hot tears and she wanted to scream but nothing was coming out.

"Y-You…you said…you said that to me…and then…you…" she let out a trembling whimper, "you _raped _me?" the man pretended to look surprised, "Oh did I?" he laughed, a dry wicked sound, "well I'm flattered you remember our special nochy together" Lucille didn't think twice, she bolted. Her scream was lost in the empty alleyways as he caught her round the waist and slammed her against his body. His chest pressed against her back, she was so utterly terrified right now.

There was a blade against her throat, "Don't move a muscle, do you pony?" he asked. She couldn't answer, and he knicked the flesh of her collarbone as a warning. "Yes!" she whimpered. Alex kept the knife against her while his hand slid across her stomach and downwards into her jeans and underwear. She began to sob when she felt his fingernails scraping her soft flesh, and then screamed when he shoved his fingers into her. He covered her mouth with his hand, "Oh hush now little sister. I'm just checking to make sure you haven't been opening up those pretty legs for any baddiwad malchicks"

Her legs were shaking, and she envisioned them snapping in half. His touch did nothing to arouse her, it hurt and his fingernails kept drawing blood. He spun her around, still holding the knife and slammed her into a wall. He removed his hand and quickly replaced it with his mouth, swallowing her sharp scream. He kissed her violently, his lips bruising hers and his teeth drawing blood. He pulled away with a vicious smile on his face, taking in her tear streaked face and bruised lips.

"Itty on to thou domy, yes? Back to loving arms of your sladky pee an em. Go on then, my malenky darling" he grinned at her, she looked at him with wide tear-filled eyes and slowly started to walk away. Was he really letting her go? He wasn't moving to stop her, and she ran away as fast as she could. She ran all the way home, her parents weren't home. She locked the door and closed the binds, and she was trembling. She hurried upstairs, and slammed her bedroom door shut behind her. With her back pressed against her door, she slowly sunk to the floor and drew her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs protectively and she began to sob.

_He threw her violently on the floor, and before she knew what was happening the intruder's body was on top of hers. She bucked against him and screamed, he covered her mouth and reached into his pocket. He moved his hand briefly and she sobbed, __"Please don't, please go away! Don't hurt me!"_ _but his lips only curled up into a smirk. He pushed a gag ball into her mouth, and taped it. He started ripping at her clothes, her breasts were heaving from her deep sobs and muffled shrieks. She was shaking, and he used his belt to tie her wrists together above her head. It was uncomfortable and the metal piece was digging into the soft skin of her wrists. His masked face was above hers, and she turned her head to the side with a disgusted whimper._

"_**I'm going to have a real horrorshow time, fillying with you, my darling"**_

_He removed the mask, but she didn't look. She didn't want to see, she didn't want to be here. He took a nipple into his mouth and sucked on it, the act might have been pleasurable but to her it was only humiliating and unwanted. His other hand roughly squeezed her other breast, and he kept switching back and forth. With a smirk she didn't see, he bit down hard. Her back arched with her scream of pain, Her "No"s were muffled. Alex trailed his wanton kisses down her trembling body._

_She continued to buck and twist, and apparently he tired of it. A sharp, violent slap to the face made her vision go black for a few seconds. He watched in sadistic glee as her head lolled to the side and she moaned softly in agony through the gag. Her sharp whimpering sound when he forced her legs apart drove him wild with desire. And he pulled away her underwear. She attempted to shut her legs but he pried them apart with brute strength and quickly pressed his hips against hers to keep them open._

_Lucy felt him reaching between his eager body and her trembling, unwilling one. Her sobs filled the room when she felt the naked flesh of his masculinity against her innocence. She didn't want this! And there was no warning, when he started to push in. He hadn't broken her hymen yet, but still, she was dry and unaroused and from she'd briefly seen he'd been large. She had never seen a man before but she could tell that he was definitely not small. She knew that it was preferable to have a well-endowed sex partner for a more pleasurable experience (according to the books she'd read in the library)_

_But this was not a sex partner, this was a horrible monster who she was stupid enough to let into her house in the middle of the night. His size didn't turn her on or awaken any sexual beast inside of her or whatever, no. It scared her. Alex was half way in, and he smirked down at her pained expression. He'd made sure to put his maskie back on. He groaned at her tightness and suddenly pulled out._

_Only to slam with cruel violence all the way back in. She screamed so hard, Lucy felt as if the inside of her throat was ripping open. He didn't give her body any time to process the violation. He was moving inside of her and it felt like he was ripping her apart with every thrust. It hurt so badly, she was sobbing violently. Writhing and squealing in agony, like an animal on a slaughtering block._

_His hips slammed into hers one final time, and she sobbed when she felt his semen filling her body. She wished he would kill her. But he didn't, he kissed her forehead and stood up. He got dressed in a lazy, casual manner. And didn't even look at her, but then he stopped and held his body above hers, she kept her eyes close and whimpered in terror when she felt his breath fan across her face. She made a squeaking sound that sounded a lot like "Please" which he found adorable. _

_Her rapist proceeded to threaten to kill her parents if she said anything, and then to tell her great she'd felt. It was awful and she wanted him to leave, and he did after taking his belt with him ("Oh, can't forget that can we, my love? Belts of this quality aren't cheapy-cheap are they?") and kicking her hard in the ribs. She waited until the door closed and didn't have the strength to get up for nearly fifteen minutes. But then she stood up, she felt like a baby bird just learning to fly or baby learning to walk. Her legs were shaky, and she felt as if they were made of glass. Every step towards the bathroom sent hurricanes of pain through her body._

_She climbed into the bathtub._

Lucy stood up, tears running down her face, and without thinking about it or really understanding why—started to tear her posters off the wall, she started to throw things without even looking to see what it was. She ignored her fingers telling her it was her beloved Oz music box, or a limited edition jewelry box with a hand-painted scene from Gone with the Wind, she just threw everything. The sound of objects slamming and shattering against walls filled the room along with her screams.

Everything was too beautiful. Why couldn't she be beautiful like them? Why couldn't she be graceful and sweet and innocent like Audrey Hepburn or smart and sexy like Bette Davis? She was nothing like them, had she ever been? And she never would be like them, she was ruined. She was dirty and her innocence had been stolen from her.

Exhausted, Lucy curled up into a ball but had no energy left to cry.

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**Please Review**

Aw, I know what you're thinking. Belinda needs to get over there ASAP and give Lucille some major snuggles ;) don't worry she will! Sorry this was so dark, but hey I said it would be with Alex and there you have it.


	10. I'm Here Now

Thank you DemonBarber14 and Bibliophile, you guys are the best :D

* * *

Belinda had recently discovered she had a "passion for fashion" she'd always liked clothes, but never saw the artistic side to creating them. Until Robbie "persuaded" her to take a class with him; she discovered that she loved the world of fashion design. She and Lucille would be unstoppable, Lucy an award winning singer and Bella a well-respected fashion designer and makeup artist. Robbie wasn't too keen on the whole makeup part of it, but Bella saw the face as a canvas.

Her new favorite quote, which was now written all over her notebooks and pinned to a bulletin board back home, next to a photo of her and Lucy, was: "I saw an angel trapped in stone and set him free"-Michelangelo. She believed that every woman had the capability to be beautiful, sexy, and fashionable and it was up to her to break through the stony exterior and bring out their inner angel.

She and Robbie were on a field trip to _The Elizabeth Academy of Fashion Design_ in New York City, and it was gorgeous. The school was a beautiful, old, and proud building with mind-blowingly stunning architecture. As if it had been created for the very best of people with an eye for beauty, and it had been. It was very hard to get in, and the instructors were rumored to be ruthless.

But if you graduated, it meant eternal respect. Perhaps not always fame, but still respect; it was on this field trip with an equally ecstatic Robbie that she pin-pointed her career choice. Fashion and Makeup, there was no other choice. She'd never been so sure about anything (she'd said the same thing about becoming a gymnast, fire-fighter, doctor, and…she was three…_a princess_)

She and Robbie shared a hotel room, after they'd reassured the over-seeing teacher that Robbie and she were not going to do anything questionable in the bedroom. Robbie was openly gay, had been for almost three years now from what Lucy had told her. Aw, she really missed her baby doll. At that moment the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"You have an urgent call from 'Coleman, Ronald' in London City, England. Would you like to accept the call? Push 1 for yes, Push 2 for no"

Belinda quickly pushed one, the phone dialed and a man's voice spoke from the other side. "Belinda? Is that you?" she sat up on her bed, "Yes. What's wrong? Is Lucy okay?" a sigh from him, "We came home last night, she'd completely trashed her room…tore down her posters, threw her Oz stuff all over the place…smashed everything. She was curled up on the floor, crying. Christine got her into a bath, to help soothe her and now she's in bed. She won't say a word, we told her we'd call you and she didn't even respond. I don't know what's wrong, I don't know what to do"

He was crying, and it made Belinda's stomach twist. "I'll be there on the next flight out" she told him, already pulling out her suitcase from under the bed. "Thank you, Bella" he said and they hung up. Robbie was coming out the bathroom, holding two scarves. "Which one Bella-Blue? This one or this one? I'm not sure if the periwinkle will go with the vest I'm wearing tomorrow but still, it would add some pop you know? But the emerald w-…"

"Wait, what's going on. Where are you going?" he asked, seeing the open suitcase. "Lucy's in trouble. There's something really wrong, I need to be with her" "Is she going to be alright?" "I don't know, I hope so" "I'll come with you, let me get my suitcase."

The duo was at the airport twenty minutes later, they agreed to pay for their own tickets. And were now sitting down, waiting for their plane number to be called. "She's not talking and she's destroyed her bedroom, broken all of her Oz things and torn her posters" Belinda told him, he linked his arm in hers. "I'm sure our star will be okay, once you're back home with her" he reassured her. He insisted on calling Lucy "a shining star" and Belinda agreed with him. An hour passed before they could board the plane, coach seats. Belinda came _this close_ to punching the obnoxious prick behind her, but calmed herself.

* * *

Christine looked at the wreckage left behind from her usually laid-back, sweet, careful daughter. Lucy was on her bed, curled up and facing the wall. In a desperate attempt, her mother and taken a favorite childhood teddy bear from the shelf and placed it in her folded arms gently. "Ici, vous allez, ma chérie." (Here you go, darling.) the phone rang, and she answered it. Relieved to hear Belinda's voice.

"Hey, we're just exiting the airport now. Robbie wants to get her a special treat a real fast, we'll be there in fifteen to twenty minutes" Belinda promised over the phone, "That sounds great. Thank you, Belinda and tell Robbie thank you for me as well" she said to her, it made Belinda feel sort of warm inside.

Mrs. Coleman and Mr. Coleman were becoming the parents she'd never had. Sure she had a loving, strong, wonderful grandmother but still…parents were important to. Christine pulled the covers over her and laid a soft hand on her shoulder, Lucy didn't even look at her. Christine told her that she loved her and then left the room, she had to go to work (it was the law).

"Lucy?" Belinda said softly, as she opened her dear friend's bedroom door. Robbie followed with a Styrofoam cup holder which was holding three drinks. "Somebody who loves you very, very much bought _you_ a Caramel Frappuccino with extra whipcream" Robbie teased sweetly, plopping himself by her side and waving the drink in "enticing" circles. For the first time in the last day and a half, she acknowledged another person's presence. But her eyes weren't bright, they were dead.

"Tell me what's wrong, Lucille" Belinda said, her voice firm. She wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing, and she sure as hell wasn't going to just brush this all aside like it was nothing. Something was wrong here and she would get to the bottom of it. Lucille tried to turn away but Belinda stopped her, "Don't you dare shut me out, tell me what's wrong" she said, but again Lucy defied her. Her eyes were filling with tears and she was trying to blink them away.

"Look, since you weren't paying attention at all, I snagged your diary off the floor. I only read the last entry so I could try and see what the hell is ripping you apart so badly, I know what happened"

Lucy swallowed thickly, "I don't know what you're talking about" her voice was shaky, her throat dry from all of her sobbing and screaming during the meltdown she'd suffered. Robbie and Belinda exchanged looks and then looked at Lucy, "Honey. You're really not going to tell us about your run in with our rapist?" Belinda asked her, her voice low.

"It's none of your business! And how dare you, how dare you read my private book! Get out, both of you!" Lucy cried, pushing at both of them. But Belinda wouldn't budge, she simply wrapped her arms around the younger girl. "It's okay, Lucy" she cooed at her. Robbie put his arms around both his "shining star" and "fabulous diva"

"I was so scared Bella!" Lucy sobbed as she hugged them both to her tightly, "I'm here now, Lucy. We're both here" Belinda said, the trio soon found themselves snuggled close on the bed. Lucy sipping on her drink, Belinda sipping on cinnamon tea, and Robbie pounding a strawberry frappe, Lucy snuck a kiss on Bella's cheek. "What was that for?" Bella asked, amused.

"I'm just happy you're here"

"And I'm not going anywhere"

"Hahahaha, did you rhyme on purpose?"

"Nope, I'm just naturally talented like that"

* * *

Two hours later, Lucille and Robbie were fast asleep. Belinda thought they looked adorable, all cuddled up close. She mused that in an alternate universe, Robbie and Lucy would make a cute couple. But their brother-sister relationship was adorable beyond words. Robbie was just as protective of Lucy as Belinda was, he might not be able to understand what Lucy or Belinda were going through but he was smart, inspiring, and funny. His goal was to make them laugh at least once a day.

Belinda snuck out of the room, out of the house and started making her way to the Korova Milkbar. She wanted to wreak havoc on the bastard. But when she got there, Alex and his droogs were nowhere in sight. She told herself that this was annoying but really she was relieved they weren't here. She hated to admit it but Alex still scared her, she still had nightmares and she wasn't sure if she could face him. Lucy had been forced to face him, without the mask.

Acting impulsively, she whipped out a permanent white marker and made her way to the back wall where Alex usually sat. When she was sure no one was looking, she wrote in huge letters:

DANGEROUS NADSAT CHELLOVECKS TO STAY FAR AWAY FROM; A WARNING TO ALL DEVOTCHKAS TO WATCH OUT AND KEEP AWAY!

**ALEX DELARGE**

She clicked the cap back on and left without a word.

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**Please Review :) **


	11. Respected and Feared

Thank you DemonBarber14, Bibliophilechild, and Weasley for reviewing! :D

Many hugs and kisses to you all :3 I hope you enjoy the following chapter, I'm kind of proud of it :)

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**Alex**

I strolled lazily down the stairs with my gloopy droogs trailing behind me, Dim smecking away like a brainless donkey and Pete with his eyes down cast in perpetual shame and fear. Georgie was like real sick, and couldn't come out to play in the vicious darkness with us. I went to my statue, my brothers, and paid the due cutter for my milk plus. I grabbed a cup and held it under the artificial nipple, and then a wicked thought crossed my mind. Simply to humor myself, I started to stroke the fake-woman between her legs the way I would a real woman. Dim viddied this and gave a bray like smot.

Pete gasped, oh the silly little twit. But it was not your humble narrator, which he was like gasping at, no. I turned to viddy what he was staring at so intently and there it was. The graffiti, my brothers. Huge and leering and bright against the blacky-blackness of the wall on which it was written. A caution to all innocent devotchkas to stay far away from the baddiwad malchick; that being me—Alex Delarge.

A chelloveck, whom worked here, saw that I had viddied it. "We've tried to take it down, but they used permanent marker. Perhaps we could scratch out your name, brother?" yes, I was respected at the Korova. I was a King of Crime, the thought was…delicious, wasn't it? I was twenty-one years young, you very well know about my incarceration at the age of fifteen when I accidently snuffed out that lady-doggie's life, you know…the one with all them sodding kitty-kots.

At seventeen, I was selected to undergo what they called "The Ludovico Technique" which made your humble narrator real sick at the sight and thought of ultra-violence. It even turned lovely, lovely Ludwig Van against me, my brothers. Finally, I could no longer take it and like plungy-plunged myself out a window and smashed myself real nasty, indeed. When I woke up in the hospital, there was this youngish nurse above me, with real horrorshow groodies on her.

I wanted then and there to throw her on the ground and fuck her, no need to call it the ol' in-out my brothers. I simply wanted to fuck her, there was nothing else to it.

But I was wrapped up tight and could barely speak. Still, I got better. It took me seven months, but I was out of there and I was cured alright. My "violent tendencies" as they called them, went sky high. I relocated my droogs. That was when I was eighteen, I threaten to shoot Pete's sladky fiancé right between her pretty green eyes after he refused to rejoin the gang; so he came back to me real skorry, so's to like protect his precious dama. And with Dim? Well, that bastard humiliated me that day I was like kicked out of my own domy. So I cut off three of his fingers, and how he _screamed._

Georgie-Boy, well…Georgie died in a car accident while I was locked up. Serves him right, the sodding bastard. I still have to send the driver of that car a thank you note, it's only polite. The new member is named Bernard, but I call him Georgie anyway; he looks a lot like him too. Same body type and hair color, except the eyes. Georgie had those cal colored brown eyes, this new one has booger-green. He got real mad at me for calling him 'Georgie', until I had Dim and Pete hold him down so I could use my midnight-black cane to beat his in his yarbos so badly, the poor bastard couldn't pee without it being real painful for nearly a week afterwards.

From then on he kept his mouth shut and always answered to "Georgie-Boy"

They were all afraid of me, did everything I asked. By the time I was twenty-years young, I was the most feared, respected, loathed, and admired 'hoodlum' in the nighttime Kingdom of crime. By day, a polite young man—a victim of the modern era, if you can believe that—but by night, a ruthless criminal. But aside from Pete's almost-bride, never murder. That simply wasn't my brand, I preferred to fuck with my victims' minds, now that was fun. So, now, here we are again. And there's that fucking graffiti on _**my**_ property, no my brothers; I do not own the Korova in a financial sense of the word but it's still mine. With a snap of my fingers, I can have anyone thrown out. The man who holds the deeds and all that, his name is Earl and he's real poogly of little old me.

I suppose this little warning is the reason, that the silly little twits are staying home. They used to come out in swarms, naïve and stupid creatures only good for one thing. The fucking warning did not only caution against me, my brothers, but reminded these little devotchkas that there were like hungry wolves of the night and that they should stay home and safe.

Did they really fucking think walls would keep me out?

"Fat-Jim, get over here" I growled at one of the chubby workers, all dressed in skin-tight white clothes. It made you wanna sick, it did. He came over, trying to look not spoogly of me but I could tell. I can always tell, my brothers. "Just who the fuck, wrote this? I want their eemya, Fat-Jim. And I want it now" I hissed through my teeth, there weren't any devochkas here and I'd been looking forward to pinning one down and having my wicked way with her (and, if I felt like it, allowing my droogs to join in as well. That was usually when the cheena was being a real lady-doggie and needed to be taught a lesson)

"I'm sorry, brother, but I wasn't even rabbiting these last two weeks, I was on like vacation see." He said, I lit a cigar—not a fucking cigarette, a _cigar_. It was real horroshow, the way the white smoke would billow and curl up from my lips. Real fucking _sexy_. It drove the devotchkas into a tizzy, and made my voice sultry and deep. It calmed me, slowed down my racing mind.

"I want it covered or erased, I don't care. But it better be history, or there'll be hell to pay. Do you pony the slovos coming from my rot, you fucking cunt?" I snarly-snarled at him, and when he didn't answer I snapped my fingers and 'Georgie' and Dim grabbed hold of him. "Okay, okay! I understand!" he like horned out, but I inhaled on my cigar and blew out a cloud into his face. And how he screamed when I pushed the hot end right against his fat cheek.

"Where's Tony? I want to speak with him, go on then you sodding bastard. Go get him" I growled at Fat-Jim, kicking him in the shins with my flip horrorshow boots. He fucking _whimpered_, if you can believe that but hurried to get Tony. Now, Tony was also a worker but a lot smarter and a real horroshow filthy fighter, real mean to. So's we get along, most of the time. I called him 'Rat-Face' and not just behind his back, mostly to his own face. He used to get real pissy 'bout that, but now he's used to it.

Rat-Face ran his fat yahztick over his yellow teeth, "I saws her, Alex my brother, a real sexy bitch she was. Exotic too, brown skin; black hair, real nice tits" he sneered in his ugly voice, his lungs must have looked like black tar. I suppose mine would to, eventually. And then it like dawned on me, my brothers, oh yes. I knew exactly who was behind the graffiti on the wall, the sodding bitch.

What the hell was her name again?

She'd been Mexican or something like that, so…Maria? Isabella? Rosabelle? Wait, I remember now. Belinda, tough little Belinda who fought against me and my droogs so hard. Trying to get back at little old Alex, apparently. The fucking cunt. She had no idea who she was messing with, I would destroy her. Hell, if I wanted to, I could destroy her life without ever coming within three miles of her. That, my brothers, is how powerful I've become since I was 'cured'.

As I leave the Korova with my three dogs in tow, I viddy a devotchka of like thirteen years young. I give Dim and Georgie the signal and we start the fun and eegras. She's smart enough to know our intentions are baddiwad, and tries to run. But I catch her round the waist and throw her to Dim, he knows his rabbit by now. He pins her arms to her sides. And I use my rookers to push up her skirt, letting my fingernails rip across her soft skin. I force her thin legs around me, Dim has her rot covered so's to keep her from creeching out blue bloody murder.

She's only thirteen, young and delicious.

Nobody hears her muffled creeches as we take our turns, and soon she stops screaming. Her eyes are empty, dead. This is worse than a thousand deaths, this is the ultimate torture and control. And it's all because of me. I can't wait to get my rookers on that bitch, I was more violent with this no-name devotchka than I usually was. And that's saying something, brothers, since I'm violent anyway. I was violent with that sweet, innocent devotchka…Lucy her name was.

The one I teased and bullied in the alleyway behind the Korova, I remembered her alright. But I didn't care to rape her again, she was nothing now. Still, it was fun to filly with her and make her tremble in like terror of your humble narrator. I watched as no-name devotchka stumbled away, hugging herself and crying in pain. I lit another cigar and viddied Pete with a sickly expression on his face. He hated it when Dim, 'Georgie', and I plunged our flesh-weapons into a poor, innocent girl.

Especially when she was brunette, since his own Georgette had had brown luscious glory. It reminded him of what I had like forced him to abandon; he knew I would win and would do anything to protect his pretty little dama. Fucking pathetic. So he left her, no goodbyes or explanations. And in his moment of weakness, he actually hugged me real tight and I let him. I allowed him to cry his agony into my chest, and I owned him. He hated me, but I owned him. But after that, anytime he started to cry I would give him a horrorshow tolchock across his 'somewhat-handsome' face.

A man does not fucking cry, I would remind him.

* * *

**Please Review**

:Have you guys seen "Gangster No. 1"? Malcolm is in his late fifties/early sixties and he plays a mob boss, anyway the first few minutes of the movie has him smoking a cigar and blowing smoke like a classy bad-ass and dear lord, I don't have a thing for older men, but he looks sexy as fuck. I'm just saying:


	12. Closer to God

Thank you DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild, you guys are amazing :D

-**DemonBarber14;** oh yes…the haircut did not rub in the right way, but other than that…oh, he got very flustered ;-) If he'd asked me to be part of his mob, I wouldn't stand a chance! I'd be like "well…I don't like hurting people…I'm not greedy…but you're sexy so…OKAY :D"

-**Bibliophilechild**; trust me, love, you're not alone. Alex is sexy as hell, he's sick and horrible but still…he's sexy as hell. If I had a time machine…the things I'd do to Malcolm McDowell *censored* well actually...the things I'd do him now xD naw, I kid (...or do I? o.O)

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"_You get me closer to God"-Nine Inch Nails_

**Alex**

"Georgie Boy, Rat-Face come here" I like barky-barked at my malenky brothers, I chose Rat-Face for this chore because Dim (poor, stupid Dim) would fuck it up royally, that was as clear as an azure sky. I put both hands on top of my cane, and rested my chin on top of my rookers. Rat-Face looked hungry and eager, he wanted to fuck me. I'd known this for a long time, but he'd never try anything nasty; my brothers. He worshiped the ground I walked on, he hopes and like prays that someday I'll give myself to him.

Fucking moron, he may be even stupider than Dim.

"Find out where this lady-doggie's domy lies, yes? I want snap-shots for proof, don't try to pull any shit on me; little brothers. I know very well what this beauteous devotchka viddies like. She's of Hispanic descent, lives alone with her grand-em. You will not touch her, I don't care how badly you're tempted to. She's mine." I snuffed out a cigar but didn't relight another one, not yet.

"Fucking bitch, doesn't even know what she's gotten herself into" I mumbled under my breathy-breath. When I viddied them still standing there, I lashed out with my black cane (boo-hoo-hoo they creeched) and growled, "Go. Now!" and so they ran out, leaving your friend with ugly stupid Dim and pathetic little Pete-y boy. I offered to buy Pete a glass of moloko plus, he looked too afraid to refuse. Dim, being well…Dim, asked me to buy him one to. I glared knife-sharp at him and bought him a glass as well; only to pour it in his lap and break the glass across his ugly face.

The rest of the night was of Pete sipping cautiously at his milk ("Thank you Alex, this was very kind of you. Thank you") and Dim like boo-hoo-hooing in all his terrible agony. He would live.

**Bernard/'Georgie Boy'**

The Hispanic community isn't exactly booming in London City, and while Rat-Face was busy jerking off in my bathroom ("Aaah, ohh…fuck! Brother please, oh Alex…fuck!") _Shudder_, I was running a finger down the list of names in the phone book. Rat Face thought Alex didn't know about his little crush on him. But Alex knew, and he used it to his advantage. He would never allow Rat-Face to touch him, but he would allow his hand to linger too long on the ugly fucker's shoulder or he'd flash him one of those rare smiles. And I hate to admit it, but even I—in all my straight glory—got a little weak in the knees when he would smile like that at me. The last time he'd done it was when I accepted my new name of Georgie.

I focused on female eemyas, since this devotchka lived with her grandmother only. Until my index finger stopped on the name "Santiago, Marcella" and slowly traced the line of dots that connected to a phone number and an extra name, "Santiago, Belinda" hadn't Alex growled a 'Bella' type name under his breath the night before? This must have been it. I banged on the bathroom door, ("We gotta go, rat-face, you better not fucking use any of my towels; you ugly fuck")

This was why Alex always chose me for the missions, I was a quick worker. I was focused, always on point. I'm a sharp chelloveck. Rat Face was a crazy mother fucker, but he was a great fighter and he would do anything Alex told him to, no questions asked. Alex could tell him to castrate himself and the gloopy fucker would do it in a heart-beat and if Alex ordered him to laugh instead of cry while he did it, I wouldn't be surprised if Rat-Face obeyed that order to.

I climbed into one of Alex's cars, yes plural. The bastard worked for the Government during the day, I suspected that they knew he was up to no good during the night but the Minister was only concerned with keeping his own name clean, they'd already fucked up with Alex back in the older days and if he said any wrong against them, bye-bye Minister. His job paid him a lot of money, and he spent it all on the finer things in life, bought a new flat, far away from his parents.

Alex was a wolf of the night, he wasn't just a poorly misbehaved kid on the wrong track anymore. He was darker, stronger, and a lot more sadistic than ever before. He fed on other people's pain, humiliation, and terror. He consumed it, like a spider feeding on the carcass of a foolish fly. He still dressed up in his classic gang wear, the white clothes and black cane and false eye lash. But by day, I often viddied him in beautiful suits of like Louis Vuitton and Italian leather shoes, real beautiful those suits were and all perfectly tailored to fit him.

Should have seen all the devotchka's faces when they saw him, (HA! Should have seen Rat-Face's)

"You got the camera?" I ask Rat-Face, he noddy-nods dumbly and clumsily hands it over to me. We were parked on the street outside this girl's domy. So I turned it on and climbed out, I wished that it was actually mine. I snuck, real horroshow, up a tree just outside a bedroom window; it belonged to a youngish girl and there was a poster of like some actor veck on the wall. I viddied this girl walk into the room, oh! Yes, I remember her now. A smirk curled on my lips, silly little bitch.

And now another one entered the room, a pretty angelic looking creature with an eternally innocent look in her big eyes. It made you want to like slap her and hold her close at the same time, I took some quick pictures and climbed back down. Rat-Face was still in the car, playing with the radio. "Turn it off, you fucking cunt. You're going to wake the whole neighborhood" I snap at him.

**Alex**

A knocky-knock sounds on my door, sometime in the middle of the nochy. I decided to stay home this particular night, the girl I just gave the old in-out to has left hours ago in a happy daze. I can be a real passionate lover, when I want to be. But of course, the bitch has it in her head that we're like a special thing or some cal like that. So's I pick myself up off my couch and don't bother to turn down Ludwig Van.

It's 'Georgie Boy' and Rat-Face, "You found this Belinda cunt?" I said, more of a statement than a question really. 'Georgie Boy' nodded his head and handed me a manila envelope; real discreet my brothers, while Rat-Face ran his fingertips across my suit which was like laid out for the next day, an awe-struck expression on his face. I grabbed my cane and smacked his fingers with it.

I opened it up real skorry and let three photos slip out, whisper sweet. There she was, the stupid little—wait a tick, wait just a fucking minute now…is that…oh fuck me, it is! It's that sweet, innocent little devotchka from that one nochy. And from the alley-way behind Melodia, my little bird. _Lucy_. Well wasn't that just fucking rich? How sladky, my two little piggies (and I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your fucking house down) finding each other.

They were laughing and embracing like they were sisters or something, and I knew then my brothers how to destroy this cunt known as Belinda. It was clearer than a fucking azure sky.

_You have no sodding idea who you're fucking with, Miss Bella. I'm going to destroy everything you hold dear to your heart, I'm going to ruin your entire world…starting with the little Princess herself._

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**Please Review**

Oh, Alex…you're such a creeper…

So Alex is older (obviously) and a lot more ruthless, I figured that he would still have strong traces of his nadsat but his language tends to be a bit more profane nowadays, instead of 'sodding' he tends to use 'fucking'. Oh and the lyric at the beginning refers to 'Rat-Face's'...issues...


	13. Erasing all the Badness

Thank you, as always, DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild :D I totally agree with you, Bibliophilechild, I would want to hug him tightly and then run away because he's just so scary...which is pretty much the same way I feel about Malcolm himself. Me: Oh my gosh, it's so nice to meet you. I'm a big fan *HUGE-BEAR-SQUISHY-HUG and then...Run away*

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_**"When one woman stands up for herself, possibly without realizing or knowing it; she is standing up for all women"-Maya Angelou**_

.

.

.

Belinda and Lucy were comparing how gross their school lunches were, after a few minutes of "heated discussion" they came to the conclusion that Bella's watery mashed potatoes were by far the nastiest. "Guess who gave up her devil wings?" Bella asked, leaning over to throw away her lunch into the black trash bin and then grabbing Lucy's and throwing it away to. She didn't bother asking if Lucy wanted it. "I assume you're talking about the Hell's Angels clique?" Lucy asked, "Yep. Theresa left them, apparently she's nice now. That's what everyone's saying."

"Are you going to give her chance?" Lucy asked, "Yeah. I mean…she was never the bitchiest out the three, I think she was just…lost." Belinda admitted. As if on que, Theresa herself was walking towards their table with a strange mixture of caution and confidence. She carefully sat down next to Lucy, "Hello Belinda" she greeted with sincere politeness albeit a bit awkwardly. She'd never hated Belinda, really. And maybe it was seeing her and Lucy's friendship blooming that made her find the strength to break away from the 'friends' she'd known since grade school.

"Hi" Belinda said back, for a moment there was nothing but silence. "It was really badass what you did, I heard about it from McKenzie in 7th period. I can't believe you were brave enough to go to the Korova and write that warning like you did. I wish I'd been brave enough to do that for my sister" she praised her, eyes twinkling like stars. Lucy was beaming, "Bella's always been the bravest" the praise was making Bella turn a little red with embarrassment. But why bother telling them that she'd been trembling in terror the entire time, and that she'd almost cried for joy when she realized he wasn't there? Let them think she was this fearless woman, right?

"Was your sister a victim as well?" Lucy asked, in her soft and gentle voice. "Yes...she was, a gang rape. She was ten years old…" Lucy gasped, her eyes filled with tears and she covered her mouth with both hands. Belinda felt queasy. "…and well…at that age…kids don't really understand or comprehend how horrible rape is…it got out somehow that she'd had sex…they started calling her a slut and shunned her...she couldn't take it, and she…well, she killed herself. If I had been strong enough to stand up for her…maybe she'd still be here…you guys are so lucky you found each other."

Belinda watched as Lucy pulled out a lacy handkerchief ("oh…Lucy…only you would have a lacy handkerchief" she mused to herself) and used it to dry Theresa's tears. It never ceased to amaze her what a beautiful paradox Lucy was. She was incredibly shy yes, and almost terrified of not being polite enough to people ("Do you think I sounded rude Bella? I didn't mean to sound rude") but she could be most affectionate person, her gentle nature was soothing without any words needed.

"I went with my new friend, Candice, to the Korova…she wanted proof. That's when we saw it, and…well, we made sure no one was looking and we added to it…that was about two nights ago and last night we went back…there was more. We took a picture, I thought you'd like to see"

Lucy moved over to sit next to Bella

Theresa handed them a photo of the Korova wall, with the message that Bella had written. And underneath, more words in different hand-writing and colors…arrows pointing to new conversations, it was like magic. Lucy drew in a shaky breath and wrapped her arms around Belinda's shoulders.

**ALEX DELARGE**

He's Awful!

He's a Pervert!

STAY AWAAAAY!

Psychopathic creepy RAPIST

Someone LOCK him up!

And throw away the fucking key!

Call the police!

Disgusting pig!

Twisted crazy pervert!

Candice has called Theresa over, who doesn't feel offended at all when Lucy and Bella don't return her farewell smile, she understands. Bella is blinking away tears, she still can't let herself cry…it just feels to…pathetic. But Lucy is unashamed, and she's hugging her tightly. There are no words to say, they don't know where to begin. And they aren't really sure why this is affecting them so strongly.

But never the less, it was magic.

* * *

_**Being good isn't good enough  
Being good won't be good enough  
When I fly, I must fly extra high  
And I'll need special wings so far to go  
From so far below **_

Bella looked at Robbie, who gave her knowing expression and a wink. They were looking up at the stage, watching as Lucy rehearsed for the talent showcase. And good god in heaven, she was stunning. Her vibrato was strong, her voice perfect, and her performance powerful. She put so much emotion into this song and it was perfect for her, Bella mused.

_**Should I try?  
Am I strong enough?  
Is there time, have I long enough?  
Gotta fly and if I fall  
That's the way it's gotta be  
There's no other way for me  
Being good just won't be good enough  
I'll be the best or nothing at all **_

Oh sweet heaven, that note! Bella would never dream of hitting a note like that or sustaining it for that long. It wasn't being dragged or forced; Lucy was in complete control of her voice. She was the best, and Bella dared anyone to disagree with her. She linked her arm into Robbie's, who looked just as excited and awe-struck as she did. Why hadn't Lucy performed in front of the school yet? She was in her junior year, you'd think she'd be singing every chance she'd get.

_**I'll try, am I strong enough?  
Is there time, have I long enough?  
Gotta fly and if I fall  
That's the way it's gotta be  
There's no other way for me  
Being good just won't be good enough  
I'll be the best or nothing at all**_

The crescendos…mind-blowing, Belinda shot up to her feet like a firework applauding loudly and vigorously, Robbie was hollering out "Beautiful" in an impressive Italian accent. Lucille blushed a light rosy color and walked off stage. "It's a bit rough, of course, but…" she started but was cut off by Belinda, "_that_ was a rough draft? Shit, Lucy! If _that's_ a _rough draft_, I'm amazed you haven't been famous since you were fetus in your mother's stomach" Robbie was nodding in agreement and pulled his long-time friend into an embrace. "She's right, you never cease to dazzle me"

* * *

**Alex**

Now, wasn't that fucking sweet?

The auditorium was dark, and I was like wearing a black suit with a black undershirt and tie. Practically invisible in the shadows as I viddied my bird singing her pretty warble on her school's stage; I used to come to this school, my brothers. Back in my skolliwol nadsat days, long live them. It was easy to charm the (fat) secretary to give me a Visitor's Pass. And those silly girls, groups of three or four giggle-whispering behind their hands and peeking at me, I winked at a sophomore and she turned red.

Ha.

They're not hugging anymore, but they're still very close to each other. And then, my brothers, they like separated and went on their opposite ways. The obviously homosexual boy was following Belinda the cunt, leaving sladky Lucy on her oddky-knocky.

* * *

Lucy felt as if she was walking on stardust, everything was wonderful at this moment in her life. Her time with Belinda, the friendship that had bloomed as erasing all the badness…but still, the echoes of it were still staining the page. She couldn't deny the shadows that crawled inside of her mind late at night. She knew that Belinda was scared to, and hurting a lot…but when they were together…it was their time to laugh and paint each other's toenails, neither wanted to talk about their attacks in detail.

It was just nice…having someone who understood…

Belinda didn't criticize her (perhaps) childish love for The Wizard of Oz and Disney films, most people only knew one side of Lucy. But Belinda, she knew everything and Lucy regarded her (and Robbie) as her family, her strong and bold and beautiful Belinda…the effortlessly fabulous Robbie, life was perfection in this moment. And she was starting to believe that _maybe_…she would be okay. She was heading to the Duke, she'd told the owner weeks before that she was no longer participating in the Talent showcase but Belinda convinced her to go ahead with it.

She walked out of the school, and she felt beautiful in the new fashionable clothes that Belinda and she had gone out shopping for, Robbie tagged along of course. Belinda didn't try to force her to be something she wasn't, didn't try to make her wear "sexy" clothing, she helped her find stylish but vintage clothing, pearl and diamond (not real, sadly) necklaces, all that good stuff. She felt like a princess. She was starting to feel more confident, thanks to Belinda.

Lucy wished that she had a car, but she supposed the long walk was good for keeping her in shape. She hated to exercise on machines, hated sweating. She joked to herself that if she had a car, she'd be obese by now. She only walking for fifteen minutes or more when she heard groaning…like someone was in pain. "Oh…God…please…s-someone…it hurts…oh…p-please"

The war started inside of her

_Lucy One: Don't you dare fall for this shit again! _

_Lucy Two: But what if it's really someone in trouble?_

_Lucy One: You're a stupid, naïve little girl. It's no wonder you were raped._

_Lucy Two: If this person is really hurt, what kind of person would that make me if I did nothing to help him? he's crying now, I can't just turn my back on him._

_Lucy One: The world if full of dangerous/evil/wicked people, always assume the worst_

"…oh god, please! H-He shot me…a-after my little girl…oh god, Sarah baby…I'm sorry I c-couldn't protect you…I'm s-sorry my darling"

_Lucy Two: He was shot! And the murderer is after his little daughter?! How could I turn my back on him now? We read about Kitty Genovese in Psychology, I refuse to be like **those** people!_

Lucy peeked around the corner, behind the building where she'd first heard the groans and cries of pain. this man was wearing a black suit, so it was a bit hard to see if there was any blood. She tapped his shoulder gently, and had no time to scream when **Alex **whipped around with a white rag in his hand, pushing it violently against her mouth and nose and driving her into the wall, her scream muffled.

Her body went limp in his arms.

* * *

**Please Review**


	14. The Ultimate Sacrifice

Thank You DemonBarber14, Bibliophilechild, and TheWeasleyBoys :)

* * *

**"Because,' she said, 'when you're scared, but you still do it anyway, that's brave." **  
**― Neil Gaiman, _Coraline_**

"Bella Blue, is Lucy there with you?" Robbie asked, he wasn't overwrought with concern or anything. He figured that Lucy had simply forgotten that he was supposed to walk her home from the Duke. She was always a bit spacey, not stupid at all, just a bit ditzy sometimes. And this was especially true when she was excited about something, and when she was excited the first person—naturally—that she wanted to see was her best friend and surrogate sister. Robbie understood just fine.

"No, I thought you were walking her home" Bella said from the other line of the phone, he could hear the notes of worry in her voice. "She wasn't even at the Duke when I got there" Bella didn't say anything for a moment, "was she ever there in the first place? I mean, maybe she got cold feet" "I'll go back inside and ask the owner, hold tight" "Okay, I'll be here"

Four minutes later the phone rang in Belinda's house, she was currently making some chicken soup for her grandmother who was a bit under the weather. "So, what's the verdict?" she asked, trying to be humorous even though she was actually a bit worried. She'd never been a worry-wart over anybody but when it came to Lucille, she felt like the mother of a three year old child was leaving home to spend the weekend in another state with family members for the first time.

"She's very, very pretty"

Her heart stuttered. That was not Robbie's voice. She didn't bother to ask who it was, she knew it wasn't Robbie; he wouldn't make a joke like this. "I swear to God, if you hurt her Alex…" the monster chuckled on the other side, the sound set her teeth on edge. "She's perfectly safe…or well…she's not dead, if that's any comfort. Would you like to say hello?" she wasn't given a chance to respond, there was the sound of shaky, uneven breaths only broken by the sound of soft pleading sobs.

"Lucy? Lucy, it's me. It's Bella!" Bella tried comforting her, but it wasn't registering in Lucy's mind at the moment. She wasn't responding to Belinda's voice, as if she couldn't even hear her. "oh dear, I suppose she isn't feeling to talkative at the moment" "you sick bastard! Leave her alone, I'm the one who wrote that graffiti on the Korova wall, it's me you want!" "Does thou actually think I am a gloopy chelloveck, my love? I knew that, for a long time now." "and you're using Lucy to get back at me"

"It was easy, all I had to do was pretend to be a gun-wound victim in an alley way…was she born stupid? Wait, let me ask her…Lucy, my darling, were you born a complete idiot? Hmm? ANSWER ME!" Belinda gasped at the scream of pain that followed his roar, "Don't hurt her! Please!" she never said please. "What was that, Bella Blue?" (oh jesus, he knew their private nicknames) "I said…I said please don't hurt her. I'll do anything; just…don't hurt her anymore"

She could practically hear him grinning

"Come alone to my flat, it's on Golden Bird Avenue. I'll be expecting you within the hour"

* * *

**Alex**

She was light in my arms, and it tickled my funny bone to know that this image—a handsome, tall young man like me carrying a beautiful, fragile looking devotchka all bridal style like this in my arms—was the common image on a romance novel cover. I carried her to my automobile and dropped her carelessly into the passenger side. Don't worry, brothers, I made sure to buckle her in. The Durango 95 purred away real horrorshow, reminding me of my nadsat days. Out of the corner of my glazzies, I studied this sladky little bitch I'd so easily caught. Only ten more minutes and we'd be at the old abandoned theater, and then the eegras would begin.

True to my word, brothers, we arrived ten minutes later. Rat Face, Dim, Pete, and 'Georgie Boy' were like waiting for us. I was still carrying her all romantic like, it was hilarious wasn't it? "She'll be waking up in another fifteen minutes. Rat Face, do you have the camera set up?" I like ask him, and he shakes his head 'yes' vigorously, I must remember to buy him some treats. My little dog.

And fifteen minutes later, or maybe sixteen (depending on the clock) my little bird started to wake up, real slow and groggily. All groaning in pain because her head was throbbing, waking up after being like knocky-knocked out with drugs is like waking up with a real bad hangover. You and I can both agree, yes?, that my little bird has never had a hangover before. Innocent little thing she is.

I pushed the 'record' button

* * *

Belinda drove through red lights, cut people off, and sped. It was a miracle of epic proportions that she wasn't pulled over, but she did get cussed at quite a bit. She soon found herself on "Golden Bird Avenue" which was obnoxiously high-class, perfectly sculpted for rich people. She looked up and saw him, looking out the window. Bastard.

A smirk spread like a disease across his mouth, slowly, as their eyes met. She jogged up to the front door and pressed the buzzer, "The door's unlocked, little sister" Alex's static-voice cooed through the speaker. Belinda wrenched the door open and slammed it shut behind her, running up the stairs as fast as she could. Lucy. Lucy. Lucy. She had to get to Lucy!

"Well, now, isn't someone eager?"

Speak of the devil himself. Belinda turned to her left, and there he was. Leaning against the door and she was so af-…no! she was NOT scared (run away, run away, run away!) "where is she?" she hissed, shaking in a mixture of anger and fear. "Would you like to sit down, Bella Blue?" "Don't call me that! And don't play fucking games with me! Where. Is. She?!" Belinda yelled, having reached her wit's end. He didn't even look surprised, "All in good time, _Bella Blue_. I want you to viddy a sinny first, starring our very own little bird herself! I smell an Oscar in her future" he teased.

She could see that he wasn't going to relent, so she begrudgingly sat down across from the screen. They were in a private movie theater, fucking figures. He sat next to her, and she growled at him; refusing to show how terrified she was by being as bitchy and cold as possible. (please don't touch me don't hurt me please oh please god don't let him hurt me anymore or Lucy, I'm so scared and Lucy…I need to see her, I need to be with her…she needs to know I'm still here)

The "film" started.

* * *

**2 Hours Later**

"Turn it off, you sick bastard! How could you do that to her?! You sick, sadistic psychopath! Where is she?! just let her go, you fucking bastard!" Belinda screamed, not able to take what she was seeing anymore. Lucy's screams still echoed in the background, the sharp sobs of pain as Alex dug the end of his hot cigar against her inner thigh for the fifth time.

Alex stood up and popped his neck in a typical male fashion, chauvinistic pig. Belinda was too shocked to fight back when he suddenly pushed down on her shoulders, hard forcing her to sit back down. She cried out in anger, confusion, pain, and terror when he used his fingers to pry her eyes open and hold them. "You're going to finish this, close your eyes or yell at me again and I'll have one of my…ahem…_dogs_ rip out her pretty glazzies. You want to see if I'm bluffing?"

She shook her head no, blinking away tears. She had to be strong, for Lucy.

The film continued for another agonizing twenty minutes before ending. "Now, wasn't that lovely? She really is a great performer" Belinda's throat was dry, "Did…did you rape her?" "No. But I wouldn't be opposed to that, she is a very pretty thing"

"Alex…_please_, leave her alone"

"And why should I, little sister?" he pressed his lips against her throat, and she clenched her jaw so tightly it ached. "You could…_have_ me. I'll come to you…anytime and anywhere…you can…you can be as rough as you'd like…just…leave her alone"

For the first time, he looked surprised. And he was, he'd never met anyone who was willing to sacrifice themselves to protect someone else, he certainly wouldn't do that (Rat Face would, the silly fucker) he grinned at her, "It's a deal then, my darling"

* * *

**Belinda**

I suppose you're wondering, why I would give myself to the man who raped me. It's not because I'm falling in love (Dear God in heaven, NO! a billion times, NO), it's not because I don't care about my body or dignity anymore, it's because I **must** protect my friend. She's got so much to give to the world, and I can't let someone ruin that. Lucy's dreams are so beautiful, I don't even really know what I'm doing with my life you know? I mean, I know I've been excited about fashion and makeup but...who knows if that'll ever come true? Lucy is the sweetest person I've ever known, I can't stand the thought of her being hurt again. Not when she's just starting to heal. I can handle this, and Lucy never has to know. It would only upset her. _I can handle this._

I'll be okay. And **Lucy will be safe**.

I can handle this…_please, God, help me survive._

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**Please Review**


	15. Shut Yourself Down

**Thank You DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild**

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How long will this take?  
How much can I go through?  
My heart, my soul aches  
I don't know what to do

I bend, but don't break  
Somehow I'll get through  
'Cause I have you  
When all have left me

And hope has disappeared  
You'll find me here  
And if I had to crawl  
Well, you'd crawl too

I stumble and I fall  
Carry me through  
The wonder of it all is you  
See me through

_**-Crawl (Carry Me Through); Superchick**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

Alex wrapped his arm around her waist, and tried to lead her up stairs to his bedroom but she resisted. "Wait, let me call a friend…to come pick up Lucy, please" she asked him, she wanted to punch him square in the jaw and go get Lucy herself and then run far away with her but she knew she was no match, physically, for Alex. And she hated herself for it. why didn't she go with Lucy to The Duke? Stupid, stupid, stupid! He smirked, the bastard, but said "Of course, our little actress needs a break after such…an intense performance, right right?"

His grip on her forearm was crushing, fingernails digging into her flesh. He roughly handed over his telephone, "make it fast. And remember, love, not a slovo of like pleading or warning, yes?" she wanted to roll her eyes at him but resisted, as if she really wanted to admit that she was about to have "willing" sex with her rapist. She quickly dialed Robbie's house phone, "Bella Blue? Why didn't you answer the phone? Is Lucy with you?" he rambled, and his voice sounded safe to her ears.

She would give anything to be with him and Lucy, dressed in matching flannel pajamas and fighting over what movie to watch. "I went out looking for her, sorry I didn't call and tell you first. But um…look, she's been hurt…I need you to come pick her up and take her home, okay?" there was a brief pause, "hurt? What do you mean? Is she okay, what happened?" Alex was drumming his fingers against his kitchen table, a dangerously impatient expression on his face.

"look, I don't have time to explain right now. Just come and get her" she urged him, then gave him the directions to the abandoned theater where she was being held. When she hung up the phone, her body went rigid, he was right behind her with his hands on her shoulders; massaging them. there was a chunk of ice in her throat, she blinked back tears and tried to calm herself down. She could get through this.

She followed him up the stairs, down a hall, and into his bedroom. She refused to take in her surrounding, she didn't want to see the Beethoven posters or the erotic artwork or the records perfectly organized on his shelves, she couldn't bring herself to lie down the bed. But she didn't have much a choice, he was suddenly pushing her against his bedroom door. His lips crushed hard against hers, fingers tangling into her dark tresses. His grip in her hair was painfully tight and possessive.

"lay down, darling" he rasped against her ear, as his hands slipped under her shirt, up her stomach and to her breasts which he squeezed roughly. She couldn't move for a few moments, and he lost patience. She was backhanded onto the bed, her cheek burned. And he was on top of her again, she wanted to push him away and scream but she couldn't. _Just breathe, just breathe, Lucy never has to know. You can get through this, it's only your body, it's not important._

"sit up, love, and remove Alexander the Large's platties, right right?" he sneered, and she started to unbutton his shirt with shaky fingers. It was here that she realized the only way to survive this night was to both shut herself down mentally and go with everything he said.

* * *

Robbie's body was shaking with sobs as he drove Lucy to the hospital. He was angry, terrified, and worried. He'd found her naked and bruised backstage on the floor; barely conscious and visibly scared. She'd cried out in terror when his shadow stretched its self over her prone body, believing it to be her tormentor. And even he'd reassured her that it was him, Robbie, she dragged herself away crying like a scared child, delirious and confused in her terror and pain.

"It's okay now, baby doll, it's me…look, it's me Robbie. You're safe now, nobody's going to hurt you anymore, I promise sweetheart." It felt like centuries of trying to reach her before she finally let him pick her up and pushed her face against his chest, trembling all over. He refused to just take her home, she needed a hospital. The nurse gasped at the sight. And Robbie went to call her parents.

"You've reached the Coleman household" Ronald's voice answered, "sir. It's Robbie…" "Oh Robbie, how are you kid?" "You and Mrs. Coleman need to come to the hospital, right now" he said urgently, not wasting any time. Ronald was immediately on alert mode, "why? What's wrong?" "It's Lucy" "oh my god, Christine wake up!

Robbie watched as they laid her down a gurney and wheeled her down the hall, but then Lucy came back to reality and panicked when she found herself surrounded by people she didn't know, "Robbie!?" she shrieked out, in a raspy voice and scared voice. He tried to go to her but one of the doctors stopped her, "you aren't permitted to go into that section of the hospital sir, I understand your concern but…"

"she needs me! Look at her, she's terrified. She's already been traumatized enough as it is, just let me reassure her that I'm still here! She probably feels abandoned!" the doctor regarded him sympathetically for a few moments before nodding his head, "very well. Go along then, tell the head nurse that Dr. Wrightson sent you, alright?"

He wasted no time, and Lucy looked visibly relieved to see him. And the nurses were examining her wounds with the scrutiny of a loving grandmother. One of them even looked at him suspiciously but was smart enough to tell he was genuinely worried for her, he kept wiping away tears and tried to stay chipper for his friend. "I have to go out of the room, but I'm going to be right outside that door okay? And I'll call Bella, okay? She'll come for you…with a caramel frappe with extra whip cream."

"I want Bella Blue…please…I want Bella…"

* * *

"Say it!" he roared, his hips slamming into hers with enough violent force to bruise. She was clenching her jaw, it hurt so badly and she didn't want to say it but she forced her mouth to open. "I love how horrorshow your cock feels…" (oh jesus no no no) "…deep inside my tight little…" (get away from me don't touch me please don't please go away stop stop stop) "cunt Alex, please fuck me harder" she tried to make it convincing, but the words were obviously forced and she felt the tears rushing down her face.

No matter, her obvious discomfort and pain only made him happier. And it didn't even feel like he was raping her, that word for a victim; she was being _fucked_ (not raped…Lucy was raped…Theresa's little sister was raped…they were victims…they were innocent…I'm being fucked right now, and it hurts but I have no one but myself to blame but oh I wish it would stop) he flipped her over on her stomach and grabbed her hips, lifting her ass and grinding himself against her.

She felt him pushing into her and started to count to a hundred backwards inside her head, shutting out the humiliation and the pain, separating herself from everything, from herself.

* * *

It was an hour before they were allowed to go into the hospital room, Lucy was sitting up and staring at her hands in her lap. "I tried calling Bella, but she isn't home" Robbie said unable to hide his annoyance but beneath was worry, surely she'd drop whatever she was doing to come for Lucy, wouldn't she? yes, of course she would. This was Lucy, and they loved each other deeply.

"Your father and I are going to get some Italian food, from Carinos, your favorite alright darling?" Ronald said kissing her forehead. She didn't say anything, only nodded slowly. She hugged her knees tightly, and looked out the window. When her parents were gone, Robbie sat down on the bed. "Can you tell me what happened, baby doll?" he asked gently, cupping her cheek and running the pad of his thumb over the soft flesh soothingly. She leaned into his touch but pursued her lips shut.

There was a storm inside of her eyes, suffocating out the sunshine.

"Where is she?" Belinda burst through the hospital entrance, Robbie was livid. "Where the hell were you Belinda? What could possibly more important?" she opened her mouth but no sound came out, what could she say? She had to keep it a secret, it was too filthy and horrible. "she's been waiting here for you for god knows how long! What the hell were you doing?" he yelled, shaking all over with anger.

"calm your tits down, princess Robbie" she tried using humor but he wasn't having it, "be quiet Belinda! Do you even care?! She's been hurt really badly and you took three hours to drop whatever the hell you were doing and get over her to be with her!" those words set her onto battle mode, "of course I care, I understand her more than you ever will, you fucking moron! Don't you dare judge me!"

"oh really?! I've known her since Junior High, you only became friends with her because you were raped like she was, you would never even look at her otherwise! She would be here for you in the blink of an eye, but I guess your reputation for being a heartless BITCH proceeds you, Belinda" he growled back, the words cut deeply and she see the guilt flash in his eyes immediately afterwards. And her own eyes stung with tears, but she puckered her lips and arched an eyebrow. Her classic bitch expression. (only mean people survive in this world)

"At least I'm not a faggot" (take it back I'm sorry I didn't mean it, I have to take it back) she whispered back, knives in her voice. He glared back and left, trying to hide his tears. She went into Lucy's room and saw her sleeping, "I'm sorry Lucy…you're so good and pure and kind…I don't deserve someone like you…but I swear I'll never let anyone hurt you again, okay? I don't care how badly he hurts me…or what he does, he's not going to touch you"

She gently pushed up her sleeve on her right arm, and looked the underside of her forearm where Alex had used a needle to carve the word "Cunt" into her flesh, she bit her own lip to keep from screaming out in anger. the bastard, the sick twisted bastard. She'd seen the video but she'd been able to turn away when it got too horrible, Lucy didn't…Lucy lived it.

Belinda slept with her in the bed, and somewhere around three in the morning Lucy woke up screaming.

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**Please Review**


	16. The Monster's Game

**Thank You DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild for the awesome reviews :)**

**::Gaaaah, this was a bitch to write. I've seriously been working on it for the past week, I suffered from writer's block and nothing seemed right to me :/ but I'm generally pleased with the outcome; considering how tough it was to write e_e**

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_Her head was throbbing…there were lights burning ugly yellow…blinding her and filling the edges of her vision. She was trying to piece everything together, trying to remember how she got here (wherever here was) but those ugly yellow lights were so painfully bright; as if the sun itself had been concentrated into them. She opened her mouth to…to what? Scream, ask a question, laugh, cry? Her mind was a tangled web, she couldn't tell up from down. _

_All she knew was those damn lights were hurting her eyes, and her head was about to explode. There was a strange echo of a taste of chemicals on her tongue, the memory of something sinister. Her nasal passages were on fire. Alex…He was hovering over her, her vision exploded into focus in harmony with the scream of horror that slipped from her lips, but the scream was not heard by the outside world. There was a pillow against her face, smothering her. She instinctively struggled, but the harder she tried to get some air the harder he pressed down on her face, laughing darkly at her as if it was a silly game._

_Her lungs felt like they would rip open from the strain, her nose ached from the weight being pressed down on it. Alex could be extremely strong when he was angry or excited, he'd always been a good fighter and naturally strong but the years had turned him into a machine. When she was too weak to struggle anymore, when she was teetering on the edge he removed the pillow. _

_Lucy didn't gasp for air, because she'd lost consciousness. Alex pinched her nose roughly and blew air into her mouth, three minutes later she was revived and the "game" started again._

"Lucy! Lucy, wake up!" Belinda cried, shaking her hard and even slapping her a little in an attempt to snap her out of her hysteria. Lucy's eyes snapped open, the pupils dilated in pure terror. She was gasping for breath, and Bella remembered when Alex nearly suffocated her with a pillow, allowing her to lose consciousness only for him to revive her so he could inflict the same torture on her again.

"I CAN'T BREATHE! PLEASE ALEX, PLEASE!"

"It's not happening now, you can breathe it's okay! Lucy, look at me! It's Bella Blue, you're okay now" she told her, and finally seemed to reach past the shadows to her. She was breathing normally, a bit shakily but at least she was aware of her surroundings. Belinda climbed under the covers with her and wrapped a protective arm around her. Lucy rested her head on her shoulder, her breathing was interrupted by whimpering sobs and Belinda held her tightly as the memories from not long ago at all, came crashing all at once down on her. Not even allowing her a moment of peace.

_He played the game two more times, before he became bored with it and moved on. The camera was still recording, but it wasn't registering in her mind. He picked her up, her body hanging limply in his arms as she groaned. She was weak, exhausted, and disoriented. And then he lifted her body above him and used all of his physical power and then some, to slam her face down on the concrete. Her jaw cracked loudly on the impact and her vision went completely black for a few long seconds, "Beautiful" he said._

Belinda didn't even think about telling Lucy about the deal she'd made with Alex, it would only upset her and right now she just wanted her to feel like everything would be okay. Absentmindedly her fingers brushed over the word that had been carved into the underside of Lucy's arm. The younger girl's breath hitched, "I'm sorry" Bella said quickly, partially because it might have physically hurt her and because it probably caused her to remember the event when she didn't want to.

"He used a needle…and he put the tip in the flame of a lighter so it would be scorching hot…I knew there was a camera…but I didn't know what for, I suppose it was for him to watch later huh? I didn't want to scream or cry, didn't want to give him that satisfaction but…I'm not as strong as you are Bella Blue, I broke. It seems like it only took seconds of all that torture for me to break, I was screaming and begging him and crying and I wanted it to end. I wanted to die, Bella."

"That fucking bastard" Bella hissed through her sudden heavy tears, she hastily wiped them away but each tear that was wiped away as quickly followed by another one. Lucy had been tortured both physically and emotionally for hours by the very man who violently raped her months before, and while she might have simply been too exhausted to do so; it she who had the right to cry like Bella was, but she wasn't. She didn't even understand how incredibly strong she was, much stronger than Bella was.

Her strength was natural; a strength of human spirit and kindness and love. Bella's strength had developed from years of hardship, she didn't know what it was like to be open to love until her grandmother became her central caregiver. "You can cry, it doesn't make you a weak person" Lucy told her in that soft voice of hers, and she wondered if Robbie was right. If she hadn't been raped, would she be here by Lucy's side, would she be sacrificing her body to ensure her safety?

Bella had always lived by the motto "It's a Dog eat Dog world" believing that it was survival of the fittest, if you fall down; tough luck. She'd always been content to watch out for herself and her grandmother, but now Lucy (and Robbie) and Lucy's parents; there were so many great people in her life; so why did she constantly feel the need to be the strongest? Especially when she knew Lucy would never judge her, that Lucy was strong enough herself to support Bella when she was too tired and too sad to be strong.

She wasn't ready to tell her about the deal yet, she didn't even know where to start. But she allowed herself to fall apart, just this once, because she was angry; so very incredibly angry that her sweet, gentle-hearted, beautiful Lucy—who had never hurt anyone in her life, who was so incredibly talented and funny—was lying on a hospital bed covered in bruises, burns, cuts, and bite-marks, because her vagina was throbbing with a dull pain and didn't feel like fucking sunshine and flowers, because she didn't know who she was anymore, because Lucy was holding her and she felt safe enough to cry.

"I'm not going to let him bring me down, Bella Blue" Lucy said, in a soft voice caught somewhere between sadness and exhaustion and pride and determination. Bella gave a watery smile, "I'm still singing at the talent showcase…Bella, I know you're insecure and scared…I know you're struggling to keep up your tough girl shell; and you are a tough girl. I'm dedicating the song I sing to you"

It was then that Robbie walked into the room, and for a moment Bella and he just stared each other down but then something broke; and they practically propelled across the small space between them and hugged each other fiercely. Bella sobbed against his chest, there was no need for apologies between them. No need for words, they just knew.

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**Please review**


	17. Wartime Within

Thank you DemonBarber14, Bibliophilechild, and TheWeasleyBoys for your awesome reviews :D they make this girl so very very happy :)

Sometimes I wonder if I should start putting warnings in my chapters for things like "torture" and all that but, come on…this is me we're talking about here. Have you ever known me to write Alex as a love-sick completely reformed good boy who's all like "I just wish we could all get along together like we used to in middle school, I wish that I could bake a cake made out of rainbows and smiles and we could all eat it and be happy *sniffle*" (Mean Girls FTW)

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Lucy healed up nicely, and by the week's end she was out the door feeling like an ancient mummy due to the bandages wrapped around her torso, arms, and legs. Belinda drove her back home to a hysterical mother and heartbroken father, they wanted to know who had hurt her in the first place so they could find him or her or them and body slam them straight into the Death Ward section of the staja. But Lucy didn't want to dwell on any of it, she didn't want a trial or a police line-up; she wanted to put it behind her and move forward, the talent showcase was in another week.

Anyone who knew Lucille, knew how dedicated she was to a performance. Gone were the days of self-doubt and reluctance; she was a power-house singer and a perfectionist, and singing made everything feel good again. She sang because she was angry, because she was in love with life, because there was fire in her skin, because Bella was her best friend and it was absolutely wonderful.

But she was still afraid of him.

She wished constantly and passionately that she wasn't, but the mere mention of his name send chills down her spine and at night he would torment her like a hideous nightmare; filling her head with images of him on top of her moving back and forth; and there was blood and darkness. And his teeth turned into knives and needles that dripped acid down onto her face; burning away her lips so she couldn't scream out for mercy or help. And soon, he wasn't even human anymore—he was a demonic entity with glowing red eyes and a laugh that echoed ugly and jagged.

Lucy would wake up in a cold-sweat, panting for air and her eyes wet with tears. Her heart pounding, she would lean back against her headboard and try to calm herself down; counting to one hundred slowly and then back again. She didn't need to call Belinda every single time she had a nightmare, she'd learned to handle them on her own.

That didn't mean she handled them well. She wiped away the sweat on her brow with the back of her shaking hand and found herself dry heaving, her stomach felt tight and cramped. She was terrified right now, the usual aftermath of some of her more disturbing nightmares. She hugged herself tightly, digging her fingernails into her skin as she tried to get through the memories playing inside her head.

_After Alex had thrown her down so hard that he'd broken her jaw, he rolled her onto her back and started to take off her clothes. She thought he was going to rape her but had no energy to try and get away, merely letting her head loll to the side with a muffled whimper of protest. But he made no move to take off his clothing, instead squatted out of her line of vision. Her jaw was somewhere between throbbing pain and a dull numbness. She could feel the drool and blood dripping down her chin._

_He came back with a leather binder, opening it up carefully next to her. Like a surgeon or a doctor for fairies opening up a pair of wings to see what the damage was. She'd already been cut, six times, he'd counted out loud. No pattern, no purpose, just cuts. "Now it's time for the real fun" he mumbled excitedly to himself and she closed her eyes tightly. She could get through this, she could get through this, she could get through this, she—_

_Alex clicked a lighter on, and she could see the thin tip of needle dancing in its flame. What was he doing? She wanted to scream but her fucking jaw, her goddamn fucking jaw! And even if she could, what good would it do? He clicked it shut and kissed the tip of her nose. He grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm so that the pale underside glowed in the artificial light, and then he made the first cut._

She quickly grabbed her comforter, stuffing it into her mouth to muffle her scream. She could actually feel the needle ripping through her skin, _burning hot_. The pain had taken her breath away, it had made her twist and lurch and tears to run down her face. Lucy forced herself to look at her arm just to reassure herself that there were no needles burning and carving themselves into her flesh.

_He stopped halfway through, and merely watched as her body writhed and trembled in pain. Her eyes rolled back in her head, drool and blood and even a little bit of vomit running down her chin. He grabbed her shirt and roughly wiped it all away, smirking as she moaned in pain at his lack of gentility when handling her broken jawbone. Alex wanted to hear her scream and beg. _

_So he grabbed her dislocated jaw in one hand and then slammed his left fist against it as hard as he could; resetting it back in its rightful place. Lucy's upper body arched off the floor with a blood-curdling scream. She fell back violently, slamming her head against the concrete and blindly reaching for her jaw in attempt to soothe at least some of the horrific pain. Alex growled low in his throat, his whole body tightened and trembled at the sound of her scream. He stood up and readjusted the camera, making it zoom in on her arm. A bloody "C" and a half "U" smiled at him._

_He started to finish the "U" and then "N" and finally "T"_

_She didn't hear him say: "I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am Bella Blue"_

_Alex's tortures seemed to never cease or become less painful, she'd never known pain like it before and sometime during the second hour begged him to kill her. She wasn't thinking about Bella or her parents or Robbie or Marcella, she just wanted the pain to end. Everything hurt so badly. And then there was the moment that he forced her body to…_

No. That _**never**_ happened. And she would never tell anyone about it, it was too ugly and shameful and horrible. He hadn't raped her, thank god, but he'd…no. no. no. Lucy turned her bedroom light on and pulled out her sheet music, "focus on the music Lucy don't think about it don't think about it don't think about it." she thought to herself. She'd tried so hard to put herself together (should have used better glue) because she was tired of being "poor innocent little Lucy" she wanted to be as strong and tough and sexy and bold as Belinda was. Sometimes it felt like she hated the older girl for it.

Belinda would never _cum_ while the monster was…no. no. no. fucking no. Tears rushed down her face, she hugged herself tightly. Her head felt like it would explode at any moment, the shame and self-hatred was killing her from the inside out. A war waged behind her eyes, she wanted to kill herself but at the same time death seemed absolutely awful to her. She couldn't just Bella behind, and what about her dreams? How could she deny herself the possibility of having them come true?

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**Please Review**

Suckish ending, sorry about that :/

::I came across a picture of Alex in the jail, the close up of him with that arrogant bad-boy smirk on his face. And there was this text that said; **"Alex Delarge excites my lady parts"** it made me laugh really hard. **True dat**.:: Oh and in other news, My best friend got me a plush llama, I only mention this because his adorable face is flesh colored and the rest of him is soft white fur, it reminded me of older Malcolm xD yes, there is a llama version of Malcolm McDowell and he is friggin adorable as hell. I'm going to start using him as my profile pic o3o


	18. From the Inside, Out

Thank you DemonBarber14, Weasley, and Bibliophilechild: We are a ACO family xD *fist bump*

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She'd had sex with him four times now, always going back home bow-legged and bruised. Makeup and clothing did miracles of hiding the truth, but Lucy and Robbie were smart and knew something was off. Still, Belinda denied anything and everything. Instead putting all her energy into helping Lucy with the talent show; she was the fifth person performing and had been asked to return for another performance making her the fourteenth out of sixteen. Her first song was _'It's a Man's World'_ and the next one a surprise, something that she'd apparently written for both herself and Belinda.

Lucy did share the 'prologue' to the song with Bella and Robbie; who held hands and Bella put her head on his shoulder. It might have been risqué to have such a long spoken intro to a performance but it was honest, beautiful, tragic, and inspiring all at the same time:

"I was in the springtime of my life, apple pie and innocence…re-runs of 'I Love Lucy' and Wizard of Oz posters from Germany and Spain…music boxes hand painted with love scenes from Gone with the Wind…and a dream inside of me that was both overwhelming and terrifying at the same time…I sang in front of a small audience…stray diners who hadn't finished their meals yet and a small table of judges for this very show…and there was this boy…older than me, and devastatingly handsome…charming and well-spoken. I was too busy inside of my own head, day dreaming about awards and praise.

I went home that night, and I didn't know then what was going to happen to me. It was my home, and home is the safest place in the world, right? I grew up in that house, my father taught me to play ragtime and I drove mama crazy when I started into the tap dancing and never took my shoes off…(laughs) we had mostly wooden and tile floors, and I was seven years old…I was hyper, I jumped and ran all over the house. This was the house where my grandparents came over every Christmas, thanksgiving, birthday.

I've often been told I'm too naïve, too trusting, and too kind…maybe that's true but I wish you'd see that you can never be too kind. Kindness destroys evil, love conquers all…I know that sounds cheesy…but It's true. I don't think I could have ever survived what he did to me if it hadn't been for Bella Blue. We shared an attacker, two different people with the same rapist. I wonder if he realized we'd find each other. He found out, Bella wrote graffiti warning other girls and he became so angry.

He took it out on me. Bella blames herself, and she shouldn't. All the blame rests on the shoulders of the monster. But I can't say I am perfectly wonderful…not yet. Bella Blue and I still have a long way to go. I can go the whole day feeling as bright and beautiful as the sun, but at night curl into myself and cry because all those bad memories are seeping into me and it hurts so very much.

But it hasn't destroyed us. There are days and nights…sometimes even weeks of storm clouds and bullets through our hearts but we're chasing our dreams and we're not giving up. We survived our rapes, and we continue to survive the aftermath. We're sparkling, bright and electric and we don't care what you say. We are the ultimate survivors. We didn't just survive 'forced sex' we survived humiliation, agony, and horror. This song is dedicated to Bella Blue and to every other lost girl out there."

It had been almost a month since the attack, and unbeknownst to Lucy and Robbie—Belinda had had sex with Alex nearly thirteen times. And it was literally destroying her from the inside out, the only thing that was pulling her through was seeing Lucy safe and excited. She knew that the night of torture was still an untouchable subject, she knew that Lucy was still scared and hurt but the younger girl wasn't channeling all that pain into depression or harming herself. She was allowing it to drive her forward.

And she thought she was weak.

How absurd was that?

Bella was sitting with her in the gazebo at the mall, when Lucy admitted to her in tight cramped whispers edged with soft sobs that Alex… "I-I guess…it's c-c-called…fellatio?" she said the word slowly, like she wasn't sure how to pronounce it. "I tr-tried…I tried t-to blo-block him out…I t-tried not to but it was like…it was like I couldn't c-control my body…I was s-so…I was so ashamed." Bella hugged her tightly, but wasn't sure what to say. She herself would orgasm involuntarily while having sex with Alex. She knew exactly how ashamed Lucy felt but couldn't say so without giving away the secret.

_Lucy stared up at the ceiling with her eyes squeezed shut and tears rolling down her cheeks, short choppy sobs racked her naked and bruised body. Alex kissed her neck, open-mouthed and slow and sensual and it horrified her when she realized it felt good. She tried to squirm out from under him but he was too heavy, he trailed his kisses down her entire body while she sobbed and trembled. She tried to keep her legs closed tightly but he wrenched them open and then slid himself downwards. _

_That's when she felt his mouth on her, she shrieked at the sensation of his tongue…pushing into her and his mouth sucking…his fingers rubbing __**something**_…_her legs were shaking and her body arched. She was sobbing, "N-No…stop it! stop!" and she meant it, she hated this. Hated how good it felt, and to her horror she realized that he was giving her, her first orgasm. Wasn't this supposed to be a moment of fireworks and stars? It was so awful and shameful._

"_Stop it! p-please…please stop! N-No please!" she wailed, and her hips were grinding against his face. He pushed his fingers faster, worked his mouth harder and despite the fact that she fought it as hard as she could, Lucy came. He slid back up her body, "My, My, My! You filthy little devotchka!" he said jovially. Her legs were still shaking, she was wailing, when he started for the second time. _

Bella wasn't sure why, but she broke. Everything came out, and Lucy kissed her forehead before standing up abruptly. The younger girl was visibly shaking, "He told you to go to his house tonight?" "yeah…he…he did" Bella said quietly. "You're not going, no don't argue. I'm calling Robbie to come pick you up, I know you were just trying to protect me but it's not worth hurting yourself. Nothing is worth that. You're smart, bold, and creative Bella Blue and you deserve to be treated with respect and love. Please, don't go to him anymore. It's destroying you"

"Are you lovely, lovely ptitsas govereeting about ol' uncle Alex?"

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**Please Review**


	19. Untitled

Thanks for the reviews and support *heart*

Thank you DemonBarber14: *Sniffle* I'm g oing to miss you. Until we meet again, * looks up dramatically into the moonlight* Weasley: Of course you can be the Aunt :D and Bibliophilechild: I'm happy you 're so enthusiastic :3

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Bella immediately stepped in front of Lucy. But to her surprise and overwhelming pride, the younger girl stepped out from behind her and looked right at Alex with fire in her eyes. Belinda knew that Lucy was still afraid of Alex, but she'd come to realize that being brave really meant facing your deepest fears and doing things despite that terror. It didn't matter how scared each girl was of their rapist, when he threatened one the other would come running fierce and protective. Marcella called it "Mama bear mode". They stood side by side.

"I'm done, Burgess. You hear me? I'm fuc king done with you. Come anywhere near me or Lucille, and I will end you. Please,don't open your mouth okay? nobody wants to hear your stupid voice. Now, you have two choices. One, you take your ugly ass far away from me and my girl or I show you how we punished motherfuckers like you back on Vine Street." Lucy raised an eyebrow at Alex, "She has razor blades in her hair" Belinda popped her gum, "Mmmhmm. Yep..." she popped the 'p' "just all up in there" she said, and without looking at each other the two girls high-fived. Alex looked amused and pissed off and little embarrassed all at the same time. "Bella Blue...I'm going to miss the way you screamed in pleasure as I rammed my hard, thick..." Belinda's throat went dry, and she tried to block out his vile words. But then-

**SMACK!**

Time stopped. Alex's face was completely to the right, his pale cheek bright red . Lucy still had her hand up, she sucked in air and then practically screamed at him. "Comment osez-vous? mother fucker ! allez, tu pièce cul laid trash! faire u n pas de putain, je vous en supplie! A ll ez-y et essayez de mettre un doigt su r e lle! Je vais te couper les couilles avec un couteau de boucher et de les enf once r dans la gorge putain! fils de put e, tu putain de psychose, le mal, tordu, fuck peu!" (How dare you!? mother fucker! come on, you ugly ass piece of trash ! take one fucking step, I'm begging you ! Go on and try to put one finger on her! I'll cut off your balls with a butcher knife and shove them down your fucking throat! son of a bitch, you motherfucking psychotic, evil, twisted, little fuck!)

And then Robbie-who'd told the girls he'd meet them here for frozen yogurt and had literally just gotten here-stood on the right side of Belinda so that Lucy was in the middle. Then a second person came to stand on Belinda's left side. A young man who stared Alex down with the same fierceness as the others.

Pete.

"You little bastard" Alex said, but his voice wasn't angry. It was jovial, amused in a bitter sort of way. The group of people standing by the two girls refused to back down, and Alex started to walk backwards. "You devotchkas could have the groodiest army in the world, you could be the bravest soomkas anyone has ever faced but it would never change the fact that I fucked both of you; made you scream in pain, made you sob violently and cum at the same time, so keep that mind my darlings. Go ahead and live your lives, marry gentle men who treat you like princesses but remember...his cock wasn't the first to be buried inside of those pretty little caverns of yours" Robbie stomped his foot, "Just leave already, you pig!"

He smirked dangerously and blew a kiss right at Lucy, "Hope the scars are healing, my love" Pete, Belinda, and Robbie immediately formed a wall in front of Lucy, giving Alex a triple death glare so vicious it sent a brief chill down his spine. "Do you honestly think, you can win against me? I'm Alexander Delarge, and I always get what I want. And what I want, what I've wanted for a long time is you Lucy. Oh don't get me wrong Bella Blue, you're gorgeous and a spit fire but you just don't scream like this little angel here does. Come on, baby doll, we both know you loved it when I fucked that sweet twat with my ton-" Belinda was about to go all Vine Street on him, but was pushed aside along with Robbie by the usually mild-mannered, gentle Lucille Coleman.

Who slammed into Alex harder than a Mac Truck rolling down a hill with no brakes, knocked the stronger taller young man flat on his back. She just started wailing on him, slapping and punching and using her nails to rip his skin. Her arms were a blur, and Alex was yelping like a beaten dog before he managed to put his fingers into his mouth and wolf-whistled loudly. Not a moment later, two other men landed in crouched positions about six feet from where Lucy was punching Alex. A tall lanky, ugly man and a broad average looking one. Belinda saw the ugly one pull out a switch blade and slammed herself into him. Knocking it out of his hand, while Robbie and Pete went after the third one.

Alex slammed his knee into her stomach, and then forced her to lay face first on the ground. He pushed her shirt up over her head and kissed her smooth back, running his hands over the skin. She heard him snap out a knife and pushed herself up off the ground by her palms, somersaulting backwards and landing in a crouched position before gracefully standing up and kicking him square in the face. And unfortunately for Alex, she was wearing heels.

Belinda had managed to kick the ugly man-boy right in the jaw, "How dare you attempt to hurt Alex, he is a God! He is the lost angel and you will burn in Hell for trying to destroy his beautiful flame you fucking bitch!" Belinda gave him a "dafaq?" expression before kicking his groin, making him land on his knees and then punching him hard in the face. But the crazy Alex fan-boy lunged forward and sank his yellow teeth into her arm, causing her to scream in pain and anger. Lucy kicked the ugly man's legs out from under him. Sending him toppling over.

Robbie and Pete were doing pretty good with the third one, Alex was on his feet and pulled out a chain that he'd stolen off of Dim but nobody saw him. Then he got behind Lucy and started to choke her with it. Ignoring her kicking legs and her struggles, "Everybody stop!" he bellowed and the fighting stopped. Belinda immediately went to help her but Alex shook his head no slowly and started to pull tighter, the chain links were cutting into her skin now. "Go on Alex! kill the fucking cunt, oh please brother! she has wronged you so greatly! and then the other bitch and the traitor! they deserve it, Alex!" the ugly one was yelling in a shrill voice, eyes twitching. The third gang-member looked tired, like he just wanted to go home.

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**Please Review**

I'm sorry to leave it off like this, I literally had like another two pages written but when I went to fucking save it; it took me to a fucking error page and erased everything I'd written. It's midnight and I'm too fucking pissed off and exhausted to even think about trying to re-write everything I just spend the last fucking three or fours hours writing. I'm so pissed, I think my head is going to explode. This chapter sucks now, there was supposed to be a huge cliffhanger and all this other stuff but nope! I'm done for tonight, fuck this. I'm going to bed.

love, a very very very pissed as fuck Corina.


	20. Watch out Little Red Riding Hood

Thank you Weasley, Bibliophilechild, and ElektraMackenzie for reviewing :D *Hugs to you all* Ugh...I feel like Chapter 19 was the worst so far, the ending sucked and the whole thing wasn't very good at all. I swear it was the bomb diggity before 80% of it got deleted DX I worked very hard on this chapter so I hope you enjoy it. I'm sure you guys understand how frustrating it is when; it's like you remember the main things that you wrote but it just doesn't come out the same or flow as beautifully as it might have. Considering all that, I'm actually quite proud of this chapter. This is Chapter 19's salvation xD haha

PS: Forgive my ignorance but...who is Doc Holliday? and what is the O.K. Corral Showdown? I wish I could be all like: "Oh of course Weasley, that's exactly what I was going for...mmm yes *adjusts monocole*" but I can't xD

Warning: Animal Cruelty

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"You're mine. You'll always be mine, Lucy. You belong to me" He sneered. All around her was a tangle of voices, faraway and echoed but his was the clearest. He was pulling the chain tighter, her face was turning red from the strain of trying to breathe. "Listen up, all of you. I am not some fucking little wannabe thug, I'm the fucking King of the Crime world in this city. All the things I've done to you, darling devotchkas...mere child's play compared to the hell I could make not only your lives but everyone you love. With the snap of my fingers, Marcella would be skinned alive and fed to hungry dogs and your parents; baby doll, oh...the things I'd do to your pretty mother" Lucy whimpered angrily and tried to suck in air but her throat was being crushed.

Alex could feel Lucy's heels hitting his legs, but the force was weaker now. There was Belinda, screaming at him to get the fuck away from her, there was Pete who—thinking that he knew Alex better than anyone else, since he'd known him longest—was trying to get to him on a logical level, and Rat-Face who was begging him to kill the innocent bitch. They were all fucking morons. As if this was the first time he'd snuffed out another person's flame. He knew exactly where to draw the line, he knew where unconsciousness ended and death began. But Bella and the fag didn't know that, and it was great fun to viddy the look of horror and anguish on their litsos.

He was pulling the chain so tightly, it hurt his fingers but it was a delicious pain "Now, you listen to me little bird. No matter where you go, no matter how big of a star you become…no matter what handsome, dashing young prince comes along to sweep you off your feet…you will always belong to me." Finally she couldn't fight back anymore, Lucy went limp against her tormentor. Alex shoved her unconsciousness body towards Belinda, Robbie, and Pete.

"Belinda; heh…you fucking cunt. You started a war with the wrong man, my love" Alex sneered; licking his blood stained lips ravenously while staring at Lucy's rag-doll body sprawled on the floor; Pete was administering CPR and Alex was looking at Lucy with a dark desire in his blue eyes. It unsettled Belinda and set her teeth on edge. He was looking at the sixteen year old like she was a piece of meat and he a hungry lion. She stepped in front of Lucy, blocking her from his line of vision.

"You're not a man. This is man-" she gestured at Pete; she still wasn't a hundred percent sure about Pete but he was the only one that night who didn't rape her and Alex obviously bullied and mistreated his "droogs" so it wasn't a long shot to say that Pete must have been bullied into this whole thing. He seemed the most gentle out of all the droogs. Belinda didn't know the whole story, but he was here by their side and he was trying to help them. Was that not the mark of a real man? He must have been terrified of Alex, and Alex had the power to destroy his life.

"-and this a man" she gestured at Robbie. She glared knife-sharp at Alex, "You…I'm still trying to figure out what the fuck you are." She spat. He smirked, and she remembered the first time she saw him—thinking how fucking sexy that smirk was; wanting his lips all over her skin, wanting him so badly. Now, it made her skin crawl. "Oh yes, indeed. I am in fact cleverly disguised a human being" he said, like it was a big secret that he was only telling her. Lucy was starting to wake up, "Pete-y boy" he growled and Pete went white with terror. He swallowed thickly and tried not to show how afraid he was. But there was something new or...maybe not new, something old that had been buried but was now breaking through the surface.

Anger, disgust, hatred.

Alex had started his life of crime at the age of thirteen, at that time it was petty crimes like shop-lifting and sneaking alcohol (which might not have exactly been 'petty' but it was to them at the time, especially compared to what came later) and Pete, Georgie, and Dim went along with it. They weren't actually that bad, they were rebellious but they never really hurt anybody. They were a wolf-pack, wild and free and powerful. But then Alex got darker, he'd always been a little more...wicked than Pete and the others but Pete couldn't recall him ever hurting anybody at that age. But then...the animals. Oh dear God the animals!

_Twelve year old Pete was walking alongside Alex, it was the beginning of March. Thursday. They didn't have school tomorrow, according to them. Alex said they needed a free day and the others agreed. School was such a drag. They were wild boys, they needed wide open spaces to unleash all their power. "Let's go this way" Alex said, pointing left. Pete hesitated, "mom got real mad at me last time I was late." Alex rolled his eyes, "What are you? a big fat baby, do you need her to change your diaper to?" He taunted and Pete's face went red. "I'm not a baby, let's go" he said, following as Alex turned left and started walking down Pine Street. Everything was going peachy-keen until Alex suddenly stopped at one house. 7865...Pete would never forget it. "Isn't this where that Stanley fucker lives?" Pete tried to pretend that that word didn't effect him, but in truth it made him uncomfortable. Alex wasn't a big cusser but when he did, it was always one of the more nasty words. Pete only ever said words like "shit" and "damn" but it was a rare thing._

_"Oh...yes I think so. Wh-Alex...what are you doing?"_

_Alex was walking up to the...no not the front door, he was climbing over the fence and into the backyard. Stupid, reckless Alex...there could have been a vicious dog or something back there. Pete's heart was pounding, he really cared about Alex during this time in their friendship. There was no sound, no sounds of flesh being ripped into shreds by ferocious pit bulls or whatever. But then the wooden gate opened and Alex was grinning, "Come on in Pete-y Boy, come on in" and he was holding a kitten in his arms, a tiny little furball of a thing. Who was meowing loudly and snuggling him/herself into Alex's arms. It was adorable. Pete had a soft spot for animals, especially cute fluffy ones like this. He stroked the cat's fur, "What a pretty little baby" he cooed and then turned red when Alex raised an eyebrow at him. But then, Alex was the one who was cuddling the kitten so who the hell was he to judge?_

_"I really fucking hate Stanley...he's so...irritating wouldn't you say?" Alex said, smiling at the kitten. "Yeah...um...totally" Stanley really wasn't that bad; but Alex hated him because he'd made a remark a few days ago that classical music belonged in the past and we should all just move on and forget about it. Pete sided with Alex, and was sincere about it. He wasn't as keen on the genre as Alex (who was?) but he respected it's place in the music world and didn't consider it "old and over with" but other than that, Stanley was a nice person who volunteered at the local children's school for field trips and activity days._

_"I'll teach that motherfucker" Alex glowered, mostly to himself and without saying a word moved past Pete to a tool shed. "Alex, we have to go now." Pete tried, he could hear Alex moving things around. The kitten was meowing and purring, Alex came out with the kitten tucked in one arm and the other arm dragging a meat cleaver. Pete's heart stopped and then started, Alex wasn't that evil. He wasn't even evil at all, he was just...Alex. But then it happened in slow motion, Alex dropped the tiny kitten to the floor and then stomped on it as hard as he could. Pete screamed and it mixed with the kitten's yowl of agony, the CRACK as the spine was crushed. Pete was shaking, sobbing. "What the fuck?! oh my God! oh my...oh my God! Alex what the fuck man?!" Pete gagged as Alex brought down the meat cleaver, grinning as blood splattered onto his face._

_And then it was over. Pete was shaking violently, he had never been so horrified and disgusted and angry. And all he could think was: "He's not just a mischievous kid...he's a psychopath, Pete...a dangerous and sadistic psychopath." For the first time, Pete was terrified of Alex. So when Alex told him to get a shovel he obeyed quickly, after all Alex still had that meat clever in his hand. Alex scraped the crushed remains of the kitten and smirked sadistically at the sound of Pete's shaky and choked sobs. He dumped the remains on the back porch for the family to see. And then put his arm around Pete, "Now lets' itty on to our domys. Have we learned our lesson?" he asked and Pete froze. "...lesson?"_

___"mom got real mad at me last time I was late." he mocked and Pete's blood ran cold. "You...did this because...because I hesitated to walk this way with you?" Pete said in complete disbelief, Alex gave him a look like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm the fucking leader, Pete. You do what I say when I say it, none of this mom bullshit. Is that understood?" Pete swallowed the bile in his throat and tried to squeeze back his tears. "Yes"_

Three months later, Alex raped a ten year old girl. Pete couldn't remember her name and thankfully hadn't been there to witness it, but Dim had. And Dim was only upset because Alex wouldn't share with him. Pete was so relieved when Alex went to the staja, he met Georgina who listened to everything and understood. He fell madly in love with her, wanted to protect and shelter her from the wickedness of the world. That's why his blood had turned to ice when he read the headlines: "CAT LADY MURDERER: ALEXANDER BURGESS TO BE RELEASED FROM LUDOVICO TREATMENT FACILITIES" But he'd tried to ease his own fears, Alex was reformed right? Oh yes indeed. For the next few months, all he was hearing was how 'good' Alex had become.

and then the suicide attempt.

The key word, of course, being 'attempt'. When Alex woke up, when his mind cleared up and the hospital drugs for like the pain and all that wore off. He was cured of the ludovico technique. The young former hooligan quickly became the night's most ruthless and sadistic crime boss, no longer was it Dim and-now the new Georgie Boy in his control but every single one of the gangs in the city of London. Even Billie Boy answered to him nowadays. Alex was right, he was the King of the crime world. He could destroy your entire world from top to bottom and never even step foot into your house.

Pete felt horrible that night, as he always did, when he witnessed the gang rape of Belinda. The way she fought and tried so hard not to cry out, even though it was obvious she was in horrendous pain was heartbreaking. He knew it would've be stupid of him to apologize; what the hell good would that have done? If anything she probably would have taken it as mocking her. And do you even apologize for something like that and...dear God why didn't he stop it? (because I'm just one person and I'm not strong enough to face him and) why didn't he stop him from raping her...Lucy...Natasha...that one pretty blonde girl from the Pasta Parlour...Dim's cousin Mary...the writer's wife...so many beautiful faces contorted in agony.

Alex had never paid much attention to his victims, but Pete supposed that because they'd found each other...because they were speaking out against him, because they were thriving. Alex hated the thought of his victims moving on, healing and reaching their dreams. He thrived on the knowledge that he was all they thought about, that it was he who plagued their nightmares and made them distrust everyone around them. But these girls, these girls-yes they were in pain, and always would be. But they'd found each other, and they were blooming.

and Alex was pissed about it. But Lucy was another thing all together, in all the time Pete had known Alex-the young sociopath had never become attached to anyone or anything, and it wasn't love by a long shot. Alex wanted to possess and control Lucille, which really didn't surprise Pete. Alex had always had a thing for the innocent girls. Now, usually he didn't care about innocence only that the girl was pretty enough and had a vagina-then he was good to go. What if they said no? well too fucking bad. "there's just something about the scream of a virginal devotchka as you like...plunge real hard and horrorshow inside of her...the red kroovy drips and the flesh turns black and purple and blue...it's the glorious thing little brother of mine..." Alex had told him one evening.

Virgins were like a special treat for the ravenous wolf inside of him. Watch out little red riding hood.

And now here they were, full circle. Rat-Face looked disturbingly eager as usualy, 'Georgie-Boy' looked bored and Dim...Dim was...oh fucking hell. He didn't want to think about poor, stupid Dim right now. He felt bad about what went down but honestly...Dim wasn't the brightest bulb...did he really think Alex would never find out? and the moron was treading on thin ice anyway to begin with, what with he and Billyboy dragging Alex into the forest and dunking him dirty pig water. Dim, stupid stupid Dim. "This really hurts Pete-y boy. Hurts deep inside my like heart, righty right? How old is your little brother...hmmm...Andrew, yes? yes Andrew...how old is turning next week? Seven? so young indeed...so incredibly innocent."

Lucy had been revived for quite a significant amount of time, she and Belinda were clinging close together. They were realizing now, truly how dangerous Alex was. He had the power to ruin the lives they'd spent this time rebuilding from the very crime he'd committed against them. He could hurt their families, and this knowledge awoke a new terror in the very girls who not very long ago were standing up to him and hitting him. But even so, Pete could tell that Lucy especially was still scared of him. He saw it in the way her body tensed when he'd grabbed her from behind. and it was understandable why.

Alex hadn't been subtle when it came to his dark obsession with Lucy, the need to possess her mind body and spirit. He would drag her to hell with him if he had the chance, and Pete wasn't sure why. Maybe it was her talent for music? maybe, in his own sick and twisted way, Alex did love her? Either way, Lucy was not a willing participate and her friends and family would do everything they could to make sure she never fell within the monster's grasp again. She'd already gone through so much, so had Belinda. They were both intelligent, funny, beautiful and incredibly strong young women filled with creativity and talent and Pete felt strongly that they had the right to move on with their lives and pursue those talents. Alex didn't.

"You better get out of here, Alex. I swear to God I'll get a policeman right n-" Lucille tried to threaten but Alex laughed, Pete swallowed thickly. Alex was protected, the Minister of the Interior saw to that. Girls had reported him and were paid thousands of dollars to keep quiet. And if the girls (which was most of them) tried to refuse because they wanted justice; they were threatened with eviction notices and their bosses paid to fire their parents; horrible things like that. The Minister wasn't completely aware of Alex's crimes, but he knew they happened and turned a blind eye to them. Pete had witnessed more rapes and battery assaults than he'd prefer to remember...but he wasn't always around.

how many more girls were there?

Alex explained all of this, and Pete watched the disgust and disbelief bloom on the girls' faces. He was disgusted to, the government here was really fucked up these days. Nobody was protected anymore. Nobody but the very people who society needed to be protected from. "Well this was real horrorshow, Have a lovely nochy my little bird...goodnight Bella Blue" Alex sneered, tipping his bowler hat and then strolling away nonchalantly. Lucy sank down on the bench, Belinda and Robbie sat beside her and Pete cautiously sat across from them. Rat-Face and Georgie-Boy had trailed after Alex. "He's unstoppable...I thought if we could just report him...he wouldn't be to hurt anyone again but...he's right...the minister of the interior spends half of his time kissing his ass and the other half trying to keep his victims quiet. I don't understand it. He should be in jail...he could ruin everything"

Before Belinda or Robbie could say anything, Pete spoke up: "If it makes you feel any better...you kicked his ass"

They all burst into laughter. Through all the anger and pain that these girls suffered almost daily, it was moments like this that put everything into perspective. A simple laugh, the first bloom of flowers in Spring, singing on a stage or finishing a new design...it made them want to live forever, regardless of all the bad things. What scared them though, was knowing that Alex was this powerful stone wall in their lives. And there was nothing they could do about it, still...they had these little moments. And that had to count for something right?

"We need to get you ready for the Talent Showcase, little miss missy! It's time for ambush makeover!" Robbie exclaimed, standing up and clapping his hands together once. "Run Lucy, Run!" Belinda said over-dramatically, Robbie grabbed Lucy round the waist and swept her away while she went limp in his arms like an old-time Hollywood actress being kidnapped by a cheesy-looking monster of the lake or something. Then they all burst into heavy laughter, and Pete felt both warm and jealous at the same time. Even when he'd thought Alex was the coolest thing since sliced bread, he'd never had this strong of bond with him.

The three of them were perfection; rare and beautiful and dazzling. Pete started to secretly refer to them as "The Diamond Trio" a name that he was not yet aware would go on to become legendary. "You guys, what time's the show?" Pete asked, "It starts at six o'clock tonight" Robbie told him cheerfully. Lucy told him that she hoped he would come, then she kissed his cheek and thanked him. She told him that she knew it must have been hard to break away from Alex's dominating grasp. And Pete smiled his genuine smile since he'd been forced to sever his relationship with Georgina.

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**Please Review**

There you go, this whole chapter is apology for Chapter 19 xD

I'm quite pleased with how this turned out; writing Pete-centric is always fun for me :) he's so adorable, I just want to reach through the screen and pinch his cheeks. Dim...No, eww...Georgie Boy...No, eww. Alex, I want to smack his booty and then run away giggling like a freak! ROFLMAO!


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you Bibliophilechild :D**

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**Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.-Maya Angelou**

Pete was anxious and for good reason, it was eight o'clock in the morning and so far no threat had befallen his kid brother. Andrew had been adopted into their family, he was five when he came to live in the house and Pete didn't care for him at first. It's not that Andy was a bad kid, it was just that Pete had never cared much for children. He didn't understand them, Georgina talked about children...Pete shook his head, he couldn't look there. It was too dark and it hurt too much. After she'd killed herself, he didn't see the point in fighting back at Alex...didn't try to escape his gang. Who gave a fuck? But then he saw her, he saw Lucy and despite everything she'd been through...despite the horrors inflicted on her innocent person; she still found reasons to believe in the beauty of humanity. She still managed to joke around and laugh, and although he knew it must have taken a long time to get to this point-that that road must have been bumpy and rough, it was still admirable. Both her and Belinda were a lot stronger than they would ever realize.

He was excited for the talent showcase, and remembered now that he had viddied Lucy that night of the auditions. He'd been moved by her talent, the power of her voice and her star presence on the stage. But at that time all he could focus on was the loss of his Georgina, but for that one moment...the sun shined again. But Alex had his eye on her, and Pete wouldn't dare approach a girl that Alex fancied. And for some reason, when Alex bragged about raping the beautiful warble-devotchka Pete found himself sitting on his bathroom floor, crying softly. He always felt sick and sorry for the victims of Alex's violent sexual attacks, but this one hit him harder than usual. She'd just looked so...happy, up there singing "Over the Rainbow" and the look of awe and wonderment on her face as the restaurant and judges burst into applause and cheers. She was so happy, so alive up there...she just lit up and she must have felt amazing.

So how did she feel when on that same night, the very night she came out of her shell, a charming stranger manipulated his way into convincing her to open the door and brutally raped her? and then later when she was repeatedly harassed by her attacker, and even tortured at one point? How did she manage to get through it all, how did she manage to still sing? Pete thought for sure that the song in her heart would be gone by now, but it had only gotten stronger. Her talent helped her through her pain. Pete, Bella, and Robbie were currently listening as she went through a repertoire of songs. She could sing a love ballad, her voice filled with the pain of woman as she watched her lover walk out of her life...and then she could sing a humorous song, such as "Sweet Sixteen" making her voice a bit more "talk-singing" and exaggerating phrases to emphasize the comedy.

And when she sang those "Power-House" songs, dear God in Heaven. Belinda and Pete would exchange looks that could only be classified as "Oh, damn" because looking at Lucy, fragile beautiful innocent Lucy...you'd never expect her to have such a huge, powerful voice. Her vibrato was golden, and she when she wanted to-she could make her voice rough and gritty. But the great thing about Lucy, was that she never overdid anything. She knew exactly which parts of the song required grit or vibrato, and she knew what songs didn't need any grit or vibrato at all. She was going to kick ass at the show tonight. Bella and Robbie agreed, Pete was excited but...oh God, Alex. What the hell was that bastard up to? Pete shouldn't have been there, what if he followed them? and what about Andy? sure mom and dad were at home but...Alex could easily charm his way into the house right? or charm the little boy outside, who thought that Pete's friends were so cool. Alex used to be "so cool" really, Pete really liked him but then...then he turned into a monster.

or had he always been one? had Pete been to innocent or blind to see it?

At four thirty the Coleman house phone rang, and four fifty-three Lucy came back into the parlor looking sad, but she wasn't crying. Bella asked what was wrong, "My maternal Aunt Diana passed away yesterday morning...I only remember her vaguely but you know, she was my mom's sister...I just feel sad for her sake really, I can't imagine losing you" Pete smiled to himself at this implication that Bella and Lucy weren't best friends, but sisters. And they were. He expressed his condolences and cautiously asked how she'd died. "Some sort of rare respiratory disease" Lucy told him and they left it at that.

At five, Lucy started getting ready with Belinda and Robbie's help. Pete just watched the news, he remembered how it used to take Georgina forever to get ready and smiled at the memory of himself throwing his head back and groaning loudly as she called out, "just another five minutes darling" since five minutes apparently meant half-an-hour in her world. But she'd always come out looking so-"Isn't she fabulous, Pete?" Robbie said with his usual flourish as she stepped out. Pete's breath hitched in his throat, there was no Robbie or Belinda...no walls or a floor, just Lucy and she was...

She was breathtakingly beautiful

Her platinum blonde hair was naturally curly, cream white pearls and diamonds sparkling in her tresses. Her makeup simple and pretty, lips shiny with gloss but not colored-making her already rose-pink lips plump, her skin was soft and smooth, and she was wearing a light blue baby-doll dress with a princess cut top and ruffles.

****Pete took her hand in his and impulsively kissed her hand, "You're beautiful" he said to her. And when she smiled, his heart almost exploded.

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**Please Review**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild :D I really appreciate your support :)**

**Not the best chapter I'm afraid, so I apologize for that.**

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**Si je dois mourir, en ce moment même**  
**Je ne craindrais pas, car je n'ai jamais connu**  
**complétude comme être ici**  
**enveloppé dans la chaleur de vous**  
**aimer chaque souffle de vous**  
**pourquoi la vie en direct, de rêve en rêve?**  
**et redoute le jour ...**

"And now, Ms. Lucille Coleman performing her first song this night...It's a Man's World." The presenter told the relatively large crowd of at least four-hundred and thirty people. The whole place was filled to capacity. Pete felt sorry for the poor waiters and cooks who had to deal with this many orders. He was sitting at a table with Belinda, Robbie, Lucy's parents, and Belinda's grandmother. Lucy sparkled on stage and again, there was nothing else in the world but her. She started her song, a powerful warble. The rawness in her voice, the grit sent ripples through the crowd and shivers up Pete's spine. And then she dropped down on her knees for the climax, clutching the microphone and she screamed. It was fucking amazing. The crowd was going wild, and she wasn't even finished yet. Pete didn't think the crowd could any more enthusiastic but he was wrong, the screams when she was finished were deafening. But she looked past everyone and looked straight Belinda, smiling at her and giving her a playful wink.

Then her eyes went to Pete and she smiled, Pete thought it was adorable how her eyes and nose crinkled like they did when she smiled like that. She bowed and thanked everyone and then walked off the stage, as she made her way to sit with her friends and family someone suddenly grabbed her waist. She could see her friends but they couldn't see her, and she was unwillingly pulled onto a lap. She tried to get up but froze when she heard his voice, "That was quite lovely, my darling" she whimpered and began to tremble, "what are you doing here, Alex?" she asked in a hissing voice, trying to pry his arms away from her waist. She couldn't deal with this right now, she just couldn't. He kissed her shoulder, "I wanted to viddy my princess like performing" he said jovially, she struggled and managed to get off his lap. "You raped me! I was never your princess and I never will be! Nobody wants you here, so just leave already!" she cried at him, her voice shook with her tears. Why couldn't he just leave her and Bella alone?

She wished so badly that she could report him, that he'd be thrown in jail but he was protected. Why the government would protect a violent criminal sociopath was beyond her. Sure he might have been a "victim of the modern age" and of government brainwashing but seriously? He was probably raping girls left to right, and nothing was being done about it? it was so incredibly disgusting to think about. There was no justice, no law nor order anymore. The police were just as brutal as the criminals these days. The rape of a twenty-eight year old woman by six policemen had been in the newspaper a few weeks earlier. "How's the traitor then, all well and happy like?" he asked, lighting a cigar. "You leave him alone, you sick bastard. I know w-" as she tried to finish her words, something strange happened. It wasn't caused by Alex or anything else that she could pin-point.

Her throat closed...or at least, that's what it felt like. Breathing wasn't coming naturally to her, her chest heaved with the struggle of her attempts at drawing in air. Her lungs were filled with bricks, her throat was being ripped apart from the inside-out. She was coughing, wheezing, and panting and Alex looked taken a back, not concerned in the least of course, just surprised. After all it wasn't everyday that a healthy, young devotchka had such a violent coughing fit without any apparent reason. But then it was over, her body was trembling and she looked scared. She tried to glare at Alex but ended up looking sort of pathetic, and he let her go away from him. Watching with a quirk of his eyebrow. "...the fuck was that all about?" Bernard/Georgie Boy wasn't happy to be here with Alex, who of course had dragged him didn't answer, instead snuffing out his cigar and pretending to pay attention to the following performances. And then it was time for the second one.

The crowd was wild once more when they were reminded that their favorite performer of this nochy was going to sing a second warble. Lucy stood on the stage, and the crowd hushed to let her begin. But she didn't sing, she spoke...she talked about her rape, about Belinda, about how she survived...she dedicated her performance to Belinda Santiago and to every other girl who had been raped, abused, bullied, or harassed; be it by Alex Delarge and his gang or someone else entirely. Then she smiled and asked Robbie, Theresa, and Natasha to come up to the stage with her, Alex rolled his eyes. All this was planned out for Bella. Pete had his arm in Bella's, how fucking sweet.

.

.

.

[Lucy:]

We could just go home right now  
Or maybe we could stick around  
For just one more drink, oh yeah  
Get another bottle out  
Lets shoot the breeze  
Sit back down  
For just one more drink, oh yeah

Here's to us  
Here's to love  
All the times  
That we messed up  
Here's to you  
Fill the glass  
Cause the last few days  
Have gone too fast  
So let give em hell  
Wish everybody well  
Here's to us  
Here's to us

Stuck it out this far together  
Put our dreams through the shredder  
Let's toast cause things got better  
And everything could change like that  
And all these years go by so fast  
But nothing lasts forever

_[Lucy with Robbie:]_  
Here's to us  
Here's to love  
All the times  
That we messed up  
Here's to you  
Fill the glass

_[Lucy:]_  
Cause the last few nights  
Have gone to fast

_[Lucy with Robbie, Natasha, and Theresa:]_  
If they give you hell  
Tell em to forget themselves  
Here's to us  
Here's to us

_[Lucy:]_  
Here's to all that we kissed  
And to all that we missed  
To the biggest mistakes  
That we just wouldn't trade

_[Lucy with Robbie, Natsha, and Theresa:]_  
To us breaking up  
Without us breaking down  
To whatever's come our way

_[Lucy:]_  
Here's to us  
Here's to us!

_[Robbie, Theresa, Natasha:]_  
Here's to us  
Here's to love  
All the times  
That we messed up

_[Lucy with Natsha Robbie, and Theresa:]_  
Here's to you  
Fill the glass

_[Lucy:]_  
Cause the last few days  
Have gone too fast

_[Lucy with Theresa and Natasha:]_  
So let's give em hell  
Wish everybody well

_[Lucy:]_  
Well!

_[Robbie and Lucy:]_  
Here's to us  
Here's to love

_[Lucy with Robbie, Theresa, and Natasha:]_  
All the times  
That we messed up  
Here's to you  
Fill the glass  
Cause the last few nights  
Have gone too fast  
If they give you hell  
Tell em forget themselves

_[Lucy:]_  
Here's to us

_[Robbie, Natasha and Theresa:]_  
Here's to us

_[Lucy:]_  
Oh here's to us

_[Natasha and Robbie:]_  
Here's to us

_[Rachel with Natasha:]_  
Here's to us  
Here's to love  
(_[Robbie & Theresa:]_ Here's to us)

Wish everybody well

_[Lucy with Robbie, Natasha, and Theresa]_  
Here's to us  
Here's to love  
Here's to us

_[Lucy]_  
Here's t-to...

Something was wrong. The crowd went silent, Robbie and the two other girls looked at each other with confused expressions. Was this supposed to theatrical? Lucy opened and closed her mouth but no sound would come out, the terror and embarrassment was sinking deep into her bones. Again, it hurt to breathe. Every intake of air seemed to result in stabbing pains in her stomach and throat. Alex watched as her family hurried to the stage, Belinda leading the way of course. Pete following like the lap dog he would always be. He stood up and walked out of the diner, and three hours later the blood of an innocent seven year old child stained his hands. He sat in his car, in the dark and watched as Pete came home. Shivering, Alex licked the blood of his hand.

His revenge against Pete was finished, and Alex knew exactly what was happening to Lucy. It was something terrible, something that would destroy both her and everyone who loved her. Alex leaned back and laughed. He laughed because Pete and his parents had just discovered the mutilated body of Andrew. He laughed because Rat-Face was on his way to set the Santiago house on fire, and he laughed because...he was fucking winning. And no amount of inspirational monologues or defiance could change that, 'Georgie-Boy' was sitting next to him. "How long do you think she has?" "I would guess at least ten more years, with the proper treatment and all that. Seems like a long time, but it's really not"

'Georgie-Boy' grinned.

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**Please Review**


	23. French Fries and ABBA

Not to toot my horn but, I think it's pretty cool that I can write such dark/sad things while I'm listening to the soundtrack from Grease on my headphones at the same time. But you know, whaevah. :p {I didn't choose the thuglife...thuglife chose me}

::I'm restraining from having Lucy and Pete (and Belinda, Robbie as background) do "Summer Nights". I have to remind myself that NO Corina, this is NOT a musical! ::

**Thank you so so so much, DemonBarber14; TheWeaselyBoys, and Bibliophilechild. My little ACO family, you guys are absolutely wonderful :D**

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If I should die, this very moment

I wouldn't fear, for I've never known

Completeness, like being here

Wrapped in the warmth of you

Loving, every breath of you

Why live life, from dream to dream?

And dread the day…

**Gorecki, Lamb**

Pete's brother's face had been lacerated with a butcher knife, and the little boy was in the hospital. Pete's head was in Lucy's lap at the moment, and she was running her fingers through his hair. "What did the doctors say?" she asked him, he squeezed his eyes tightly as more tears flowed. "He'll live but…there's going to be scars…not to mention the everlasting trauma" he spat bitterly, Lucy nodded wisely. She knew only too well the constant self-blame, fear, anger, confusion, and shame that an Alex Delarge attack produced in his victims. Pete rolled over so that he could see her face.

"And you? Have you been to the doctors?" he asked, she shook her head yes. And he waited with bated breath, _let her be okay,_"they couldn't find any traces of anything bad. I told you guys it's just stress or something, don't worry. I feel great right now…physically I mean, my throat doesn't hurt at all. Those breathing attacks or whatever they're called…they're painful and scary, yes but…they don't happen constantly, I can handle it. I'm meeting the man from the record label tomorrow, I'm just scared I'll get an attack during my audition for him."

"Having random, painful breathing attacks is not normal for a young healthy teenage girl" Pete pointed out, but Lucy shook her head no. "You're being overdramatic Pete, it's just st-…" "Stop saying that, stop being so fucking stupid! Lucy, your Aunt died from breathing complications. Does that mean nothing to you?" he yelled, and his exasperation, he grabbed her forearm in a slightly bruising grip. He saw the fear in her eyes and quickly let go. He mentally berated himself, _seriously you dumbass? She's been through a violent rape and a night of torture and you're grabbing her arms hard enough to bruise and yelling at her? Calling her stupid? Wow, I smell a best boyfriend award—wait, boyfriend? No._

"I…I'm sorry…Lucy, I'm s-…"

"Get out of here!" she wailed angrily, pulling away from him. He tried to apologize again but she got up off the couch and ran into her room, slamming the door behind her. Belinda, who had been in the kitchen making bowls of ice cream for them, came into the living room. "Is Lucy okay?" she asked, "I…I made a mistake Bella, I'm such an idiot. I just, I got so mad at her…she keeps brushing her…whatever it is, aside. I'm scared that something really bad is happening to her and she just brushes it off like nothing is wrong. I called her stupid" Belinda sighed, "I'll admit this isn't your brightest moment Pete but…I understand that you're worried and upset but you have to think about what Lucy is feeling right now"

"I didn't mean to hurt her feelings" he tried to defend himself

"No, that's not what I mean. Think about it, she's finally healing from her rape and torture…she's starting to get her dream, and now she's starting to get sick? Do you have any idea how frightening and confusing that must be? By not admitting that something might be really, really wrong with her…to Lucy it's like nothing is wrong. You know what I mean? It's a defense mechanism …denial, I think"

"I'm such an asshole" he groaned, Belinda gave him a squeeze. "You're just worried and scared, we do stupid things sometimes when we're worried and scared. It's easy to get mad at the people we love the most, to get irritated when those people don't see…what we see." Pete didn't get a chance to respond, Christine Coleman walked into the room shaking all over, her face deathly pale and her eyes wide. She looked like she'd seen a ghost, "Mrs. Coleman? Are you okay?" Belinda asked, standing up and helping her best friend's mother sit down in the armchair. "Dr. Hartfield just called" she whispered, a heartbeat of time passed. "Isn't that Lucy's doctor?" Pete asked, the mother nodded; "they reexamined her blood samples…she has something awful…" she couldn't continue, her sobs were too heavy.

"What is it? Is it cancer?" Belinda asked, her voice shaking. "No…he said that it's rare…it's not even common in this country…it's called the Black Widow Syndrome" she whispered, her face wet with tears that never seemed to stop flowing. "So…she was bitten by a black widow?" Pete asked, "No, honey" the door to Lucy's bedroom opened. "Are you okay, mama? I heard you crying" Christine kissed the top of her daughter's knuckles.

"The doctor called baby girl…he…" she bowed her head, and then looked up again. Belinda was shaking all over, was there a cure? Was it deadly? Was she going to be okay? Was she going to (oh dear God, please no) die? How long would she live? "he said you have a rare breathing disease…it's called the Black Widow Syndrome…he can explain it in detail to you but…there are five levels…the most severe is level five, it's the deadliest…and…it's one you have, baby"

Belinda felt like she would vomit, Pete was on the verge of falling apart. "How long do I have?" Lucy asked in hushed voice, her fingernails were digging into her palms. "The longest anyone has lived is ten to fifteen years…but it tends to vary. But I want you to pursue you dreams, okay? There's a medicine, not a cure but a medicine that helps…I guess it just helps with the symptoms so…you should still be able to sing. You've been through so much pain, there's no need for you to be confined to a bed for the rest of your life, miserable. I wish…I wish I could say that you're going to be okay"

Lucy stood up and without a word, walked back into her room. Belinda followed, Pete stayed behind to comfort Mrs. Coleman. And besides, he knew that the girls needed to be by themselves right now.

"Ten to fifteen years is a long time, Bella Blue. I mean it's enough time to make an album…get married…have a few children. Don't be so sad okay? I have a long time left" Belinda folded her arms, "the time varies, Lucy, and you have the most severe level of the disease"

"I know that! I was there, thank you" Lucy snapped, she sat on her bed. "I'm sorry Bella…that wasn't nice" she said, patting the empty space beside her. Belinda sat down, "you know…I'm not sure how to feel right now. I know…I know that there's no assurance that you'll reach the fifteen year mark but…I keep praying that you will, I know that once we reach that time…I'll look back and realize that it wasn't long enough…not by a long-shot but at this moment…fifteen years seems like such a long time. You're mother's right, Lucy, keep chasing your dreams. You're worth it." Lucy's hands were shaking.

"I want to talk to the doctor, can you come with me?"

"Of course I will, baby doll, do you wanna go right now or-?"

"Yeah, I just…want to get it over with"

The drive to Dr. Hartfield's office felt like a hundred years, Belinda put on some ABBA because she knew it would make Lucy feel better; and truthfully ABBA was one of her guilty pleasures. Not that she needed to hide that from Lucy, and as she drove she couldn't help but smile at a memory—one of those pure, happy moments in time in which Alex was far from their minds as could be, in which he meant absolutely nothing, in which he was nothing.

"_Do you have any music you want to listen to?" Bella asked as she took out the pickles from her burger, They were parked outside of a hamburger joint, Lucy was enjoying a strawberry malt and some French fries. The girls were waiting for Robbie, until then they were going to sit in the car and enjoy their burgers, fries, and strawberry malt/Coca-Cola. "I have an ABBA record" Lucy beamed._

"_Oh…yeah, I don't really like…-"_

"_Bella, I've heard you singing 'Dancing Queen' in the shower" Lucy grinned, Belinda turned red. "Why do you feel so bad about liking them? They're amazing" "I don't know, it's just too girly. I don't like admitting that I lo-I mean like them" Lucy's expression was ecstatic, "You almost said love! Come on, Bella Blue, give into the power of the ABBA" she said dramatically_

"_Fiiiine! I love ABBA, their music is amazing and Lucy is right…as always" she declared, Lucy gave her a "…and don't you forget it" look, which had them both bent over with laughter. They popped in the record and started singing loudly and a bit off-key (which made them laugh even harder) to "Honey, Honey" and Lucy used her French fry as a microphone. Belinda stole it from her and quickly stuffed it into her mouth, giving a cheeky grin. "Excuse me mam', but did thou just stealeth my potato stick?!"_

"_Are thou speaking to me? Does thou dare accuse the great Lady Bella of such heinous crimes, do you bite your thumb at me mam?"_

"_Indeed I do bite my thumb at you!"_

"_On guard, you harlot!"_

_Then they proceeded to have a sword fight with their fries._

As Belinda turned into the hospital parking lot, she could feel her chest tightening and stomach turning. How many more times would she get the chance to sing off key to ABBA and have sword fights with French fries in this car with her best friend and sister? "Hey, you go in ahead of me okay? I'll be there in a second" she told her, Lucy nodded and squeezed her shoulder. "I love you Bella Blue"

_**Oh God, please don't let me fall apart right now**_

"I love you too, baby girl"

Lucy got out of the car and the moment she was in the hospital. Bella began to sob, great heaving cries punctuated by her fists hitting the steering wheel. She was so scared, and she didn't care if anyone saw her right now—be it the Hell's Angels or Alex himself. She was just so fucking scared.

But she wanted to be strong for Lucy, who was trying to act like she was handling everything just fine but Bella knew perfectly well that the young girl was terrified. Not only of dying but of the possibility that her breathing attacks would damage her voice and ruin her chance at stardom. In a strange way, it would have been worse than death. Bella used a napkin to wipe away her tears and hurried to get into the hospital. Lucy pulled her into a hug and told her, "Thank you Bella Blue…for everything"

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**Please Review**

I feel like in the last few chapters there hasn't been enough Bella/Lucy interaction. There's been a lot of Pete centric plot and Pete/Lucy stuff. I hope the flashback scene in the car made you smile, and I hope it reminded you even if just a little bit of a time when you were with someone you really love.

::The Black Widow Syndrome is completely made up...as far as I know at least::


	24. Black Widow Syndrome

4/8/13: I would've written and updated sooner but I've become unhealthily addicted to . I regret nothing! If any of you love birds are on that site, tell me. I can follow you and you can follow me and it'll be a great arrangement. So if I'm not updating as regularly (and don't worry I'll try my best to stay on top of it) you can just be like, "Ah…Corina must be on Tumblr again"

Thank you DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild; you guys are pretty amazing!

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"The Black Widow Syndrome is categorized in five levels, the first one is usually not fatal to the inflicted but as the levels progress…it becomes deadly. I'm very sorry to say that you have Level Five, and within this level there are three stages. We can never be sure how long the stages will last, but each one requires more medicine than the last. Some people skip over levels, a woman in Michigan was in the first stage for two weeks and then entered the third one right after.

The first stage is characterized by coughing attacks ranging from mild to severe, they're not frequent but they can be frightening and painful. Headaches are common, seizures are not but they have been known to happen. The second stage is characterized by coughing attacks that are little more frequent and lean more towards the severe side, sometimes the milder. Headaches, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, the inability to hold in food resulting in rapid weight loss…the stomach weakens you see, and by this stage the inflicted must be put on even more medicine to help regulate his or her weight.

The third stage..."

Lucy was squeezing Belinda's hand hard enough to bruise, her eyes were filled with tears. The doctor was trying to be as gentle as possible by with each word he was destroying her entire world. He went onto the third stage and she couldn't hold it anymore, she burst into tears. She was terrified, angry, and confused by this whole thing. She'd never been a sickly child; she was starting to get her dream finally, she was starting to feel beautiful again, she was starting to love life and trust people after her rape.

And she was dying

She had at least ten more years according to her doctors but…was that really long enough? She wanted to win countless awards, get married, and have children. She wanted to be there to see Belinda's future children graduate from High School, she wanted to see and taste and feel and hear everything and she wouldn't get the chance. She was only sixteen years old, so according to the doctors…

She would die at the age of twenty-six

She would never grow old, never see her grandchildren, and the music business was tough…she might not even get her dream at all. And who would even listen to and love some silly little girl from London who's dying anyway? People would just pity her, they'd think "why should we invest time and money into someone who might kill over at any minute?" but wait…

No, she wouldn't give up on her dream. The coughing attack had only affected her singing because she hadn't had the medicine and hadn't known then what was happening. Belinda was wiping away her tears and kissing the top of her head, the older girl was shaking all over. The doctor was giving his condolences, and he was being sincere. He'd known the Coleman's since Lucy was eight years old.

She'd always been a dear child, polite and well-mannered but bubbly and cheerful as well. She was an affectionate little thing, and she would run into his arms whenever she came for checkups. In fact, Lucy would throw a tantrum if he wasn't there. She was darling but she could be a devil when she wanted to be, she'd grown into a beautiful young lady. He knew of her rape and it broke his heart to think that someone would intentionally hurt such a lovely human being.

"You'll have to take three shots a day, they're not very painful…one in the morning, afternoon, and at night time. They don't take care of every single symptom or even stop them, but they do provide significant relief. Your vocals shouldn't be affected by them, so yes Lucy…you can still be a singer. The second stage calls for six shots a day and I'm afraid that the last two are thick needles and can be very painful, the third stage calls for nine. I'm going to have Nurse Abigail here teach you how to administer your medicine and Belinda as well in case of an emergency"

Nurse Abigail lead the two girls into another room where she taught them how the medicine worked, how long until Lucy could eat before and after taking a shot, and so forth and so on. Then she gave Lucy her first shot of many, it didn't hurt very badly and for that she was grateful. Ten to fifteen years, she kept telling herself. She had to make the most of it, the stages got worse as they progressed and part of her wanted to throw the towel in right now. But then...she wanted to live, she wanted to sing for an audience, she wanted to see Bella and Robbie's dreams come true.

She wanted to kiss Pete. The thought startled her, in the weeks and months after her rape Lucy would have never dreamed of being that intimate with anyone. She knew that intimacy and sex wasn't meant to be violent, painful, degrading, and horrifying but still; she had been scared of the notion of having someone touch her like that. She wanted Pete to kiss her, maybe even touch her...maybe. One of her classmates from Musical Theater, Adam, had tried to kiss her. He'd liked her since they were in the 4th grade, he was a very nice person. But he didn't know that just a week before, Lucy had been brutally raped. And when he tried to kiss her, despite the fact that Lucy sort of liked him to, she recoiled like a burnt cat and ran away; her heart pounding.

Lucy really liked Pete but..she was afraid that she'd freak out if he tried to kiss her, even though she wanted him to. She'd liked Adam since the seventh grade and wanted him to kiss her but the moment he did, it felt like she was suffocating. All she could see, hear, and feel was _Alex_. Alex pinning her down, Alex forcing her legs open, Alex stealing her innocence from her while she screamed in pain and tried desperately to block it out. She couldn't imagine having survived all of this without Bella Blue by her side. They'd been alone for so long before they found each other, sure they'd had supportive adult figures but they didn't understand. Not really.

Upon returning back to the Coleman house, Belinda and Lucy barricaded themselves in her room. They were side by side, propped against the headboard of the bed. Lucy brought her knees up to her chest and leaned against Belinda. Bella wrapped her arms around the younger girl; "It's okay baby doll, I'm here" she told her. "I don't want to die" Lucy squeaked, Belinda's eyes welled up with tears and her voice shook. "I don't want you to die either" Lucy sat up and gave Bella a watery smile. "I have ten to fifteen years, so let's make the most of it. You and I...we are going to have a beautiful time. I don't want my last ten years on this planet to be filled with sadness"

"They won't be. We have each other, and for whatever time you may have here...I'm going to do my best to make sure every single day is a wonderful day. You deserve it Lucy, you deserve to have bright happy days. But...I'm not okay with it...your disease...I'll never accept it or understand why it had to happen to you of all people...I just...I don't-" Belinda was crying now, "I don't know how I'm supposed to live without you" Lucy hugged her even tighter, Robbie walked into the room and pretty much jumped onto the bed, pulling Lucy into a tight hug and then Belinda before settling himself between them. Tears were running down his face, Pete stood in the doorway. "I'm sorry Lucy...I didn't mean to hurt you, I really didn't...I-"

He didn't get to finish, Lucy hurried to him and pulled him into a hug.

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Please Review

The next one will (hopefully) be longer and better, No Alex in this one; sorry about that.

Updated on 4/11/13...that damn Tumblr again. What?, no of course I don't have Tumblr opened on another tab...*shifty eyes*


	25. Never Give Up

Thank you DemonBarber14 and Bibliophilechild: That's cool :) if you want to check my page out, there's a link on my profile page :D

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"You...uh...you remember that school in New York that Robbie and I visited?" Belinda said in the quiet darkness of Lucy's bedroom. The two girls were snuggled close under Lucy's white, pink rose patterned comforter. "The Rosemary Academy of Fashion Design?" came the reply, softly spoken. It was almost two in the morning and although they were both exhausted Lucy just couldn't sleep and Belinda wouldn't go to sleep knowing her best friend was sitting up; scared of what was happening to her. Belinda was scared to. Aside from the obvious horror of Lucy dying, it was the stages of her death. And the third stage...God she didn't want to think about it, and neither did Lucy. It was one thing to know you're going to die but to have a time limit and to know that all of these painful things are going to happen to you and get worse and more painful as the disease progresses; the seizures and coughing attacks, the thick needles, the loss of appetite, the prone to vomiting...

the loss of eye sight...

It wasn't like it was going to happen tomorrow but still...Lucy didn't know if she was strong enough to handle all of that, and what if the first stage only lasted a few weeks? what if she went straight to the third stage, there was no guaranty that she'd even reach that ten year mark. Twenty-Six years old, that was still so young. Life was a confusing and complex thing to her, to both girls. Before Alex; Lucy had always felt comfortable with people, saw the beauty in everything, laughed and dreamed, and enjoyed curling up by the fire with a good book. But after...fear, shame, confusion, self-loathing, heartbreak, and anger. She'd cut herself off from everyone, couldn't focus on anything or anyone and simply didn't care anymore.

But then Belinda...tough, funny, scared, beautiful, wild, unstoppable, ambitious, snarky, sassy Belinda Santiago came along. And it was hard to believe for a moment that someone like her could be the victim of a rape. Lucy couldn't stand the thought of someone snuffing out a flame as bright and strong as Bella Blue's and had been determined to nurse that flame back to life. It broke her heart whenever Bella would break down and cry in her arms, or over the phone. And they still weren't over their rapes, they never would be. There still many nights when Lucy would barricade herself; fully clothed, in the bathtub and a phone, sobbing to Belinda. Sometimes about her rape, sometimes about that awful night of torture...sometimes a mixture of both.

_I c-can still feel him! It's like...It's like it's happening all over again **[It's okay Lucy, listen to the sound of my voice, you're safe-]**! I can feel h-his body on top of m-mine a-and...(sharp whimpering sob) my dress...m-my dress is going up** [You're okay Baby Doll, I promise. This is just a memory]** ...I don't want my dress to go u-up! P-Please, don't...don't h-hurt me...It hurts Bella! I can't get away f-from it, and h-he...he's so heavy! I c-can't breathe! He...(hyperventilating) the pillow! the pillow! I can't...I can't breathe! It h-hurts!** [Lucy, Lucy listen to me! Breathe slowly, count to five...just try to calm down okay? Listen, listen to my voice...it's Bella and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, okay?]**_

Lucy's rapid and irregular breathing would slow down and become steadily even, and the crisis was over. Lucy hated those moments more than anything, late at night when the flashbacks were so powerful and so vivid that the terror took her breath away. And there those times when Belinda's voice sounded too far away on the phone, those moments when Lucy just couldn't stop screaming. For she could feel his teeth raking across her skin, drawing blood and she could feel that...horrific pain when he'd forced his thing inside of her. She could feel the burning tip of the needle against her skin, ripping it open as he dragged it across her flesh, she could feel the shame and self-hatred of her orgasm forced by his tongue and fingers.

It would get to be too much and she would find herself just...screaming, not words...just screaming and crying and curling up in the bathtub while Belinda tried to comfort her over the phone and couldn't because Lucy just wasn't listening. It was those nights that Belinda would come over, pick her up out of the bathtub and bury both herself and Lucy under a mountain of blankets and simply hold her close. It didn't matter what time of night, and if Lucy struggled and yelled and tried to push her away; Belinda would weather the small bruises and hold her firmly, cooing at her until she snapped out of it and relaxed. But Lucy wasn't the only one who needed comforting, Bella would come to Lucy's house announced and, sobbing, throw her arms around her and bury her face in her neck-trembling all over. Lucy would guide her over to the couch and stoke her hair, singing softly to her while Bella held onto her like an anchor in a violent sea.

"They sent me a letter...they're interested in me. They want me to start next year"

"Oh! That's wonderful, I'm so happy for you! You're going to be amazing! I just know it!"

"And don't forget you have a meeting with a record deal company"

"Oh yeah...that. Should...I tell them about my...sickness? I don't want them to sign me just out of pity but...oh I don't know"

"That's your choice Baby Doll, and whatever you decide...I'll respect it. And so should everyone else, if you want to wait then wait"

"I'll wait then...if I become famous, promise you'll design my stage costumes for me?"

"It's a promise, and do you promise to never give up on your dream?"

"...do _you_ promise to never give up on yours?"

"Yes, I do"

"Then I do to."

**Alex**

The mission to set the Santiago house on fire failed, and it was all Rat-Face's fault. So I was like beating him real savage, and he was creeching and moany-maoning in like pain. I do love the music of those under me, suffering but when it's a male it get's tiring pretty fast. A devotchka...a pretty little cunt like Lucy...oh brothers, that was true music. It was gorgeousness and gorgeosity. There was nothing more beautiful than a face twisted in pain as I plunged deep and hard into their innocent, tight, sweet lady havens. I decided, she was mine. No, I did not love her...the thought was repulsive, but I like viddied her as a doll, mine to look at and touch and nobody else's.

It's not that I'm a jealous man...**_I just don't like other people touching my fucking things!_**

And that leads me to Petey-Boy, oh yes...the malenky traitor himself. I saw them, laughing and hugging all the time. She was my bitch, mine. And I wanted to make her suffer, I wanted every minute of every day of her life to be filled with terror and pain. I wanted to see those beautiful eyes well with tears, taste her sweet skin as I raked my teeth across it, I wanted to hear her whimper and sob. It was the most additive sound I'd heard in so very, very long my brothers. I barked at Rat-Face to leave the Korova, which is like where we were at the moment, dear friends.

I viddied a pretty red-head across the room, wearing glasses and playing way too much with her hair and looking about herself sheepishly. I gathered it was a nervous habit, too fucking easy. I charmed her, and she allowed me to walk her home. But we both know that your humble narrator did not like take this pretty little unsure thing home safe and sound and two hours later, she was walking herself home on shaking legs, covered in blood and the remains of her ripped leggings. I went back home, and slooshied the lovely Ludwig Van as per usual.

You know, brothers, it's been such a long time since I played with my little bird...in person.

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_** Please Review**_


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